“One Life” nature documentary — it’s always about the kids

NatGeo Wild’s “One Life” nature documentary, premiering Dec. 8, is one gorgeous film. When the narration features the soothing British-accented tones of Daniel Craig (ie. James Bond), the visuals offer incredible micro- close-ups and grand panoramas, sometimes in super-slow=mo, and the over-arching tone is relentlessly upbeat, it’s difficult to turn away. “One Life,” premiering Dec. 8 on NatGeo Wild, makes you feel good about life and the process of living. This project has determined to leave the more topical, downbeat concerns about global warming to others. Instead, it is an unabashed celebration of living things, from birth to the moment when parents pass the torch to a next generation. En route it’s a celebration of film-making in the wild. Stories like the octopus mother who cares for her eggs for weeks while she slowly starves to death, making the ultimate sacrifice for her offspring, illustrate the tone and through-line of the narrative. It’s always about the kids in nature’s forward-moving quest for life. Filmed in 12 countries on every continent and documenting never-before filmed moments of animal life — first complete sequence of humpback whale mating contest (aerials, underwater, topside, practically from dating to smoking a cigarette — it’s a visual gem. Even if the one-note emphasis on hatching/birthing isn’t for everyone, even if the unmitigated optimism about the glory of the critters leaves out valuable information about how mankind has gotten in the way of all that nature, even if there’s much more to the story than this apolitical film. We’ll look for that elsewhere. Source http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2013/12/05/nat-geo-wilds-one-life/17207/