Best animal-themed documentaries that will change how you think about them.

Documentaries have long been my favorite cinematic genre. Nothing is more compelling than “real” life stories and the best documentaries are often more dramatic, exciting and heartbreaking than anything “fiction” provides.  Moreover, documentaries elucidate, expand and enrich our lives and the world in which we live.  Often, though, they shine a light into some of the basest elements of our nature. 

Of course, documentaries cover a wide range of subjects—not only of the natural world but the humans who reside in it.  As I have sought out both written material and documentaries regarding our relationship with animals, I have seen quite a few animal-focused documentaries. The following list represents the best that I have seen on that subject. There are some notable expectations that I have not yet seen: “The Witness” and, “Henry” are just two. Nevertheless, here is my list of provocative documentaries that will force you to reconsider your relationship with (nonhuman) animals.

  

10 Animal Odd Couples:  

This documentary produced for PBS was director by Susan Fleming and Sara Marino. The film demonstrates just how intricate and interesting the lives of animals are. The truly amazing thing is that animals develop relationships with animals outside their own kind, interspecies relationships.  All the interspecies relationships shown in the film are touching, (a lion and coyote, a tortoise and a goose, a dog and a deer) but I loved the relationship a goat develops with a blind horse. The goat, with all the altruism of a saint, leads the horse daily to forge for food.  Why would he do that? The goat seems to understand that his friend is blind and needs a helping hand or hoof.  Indeed, the film interviews animal experts Temple Grandin and Marc Bertoff among others to help understand this dynamic. There is simply no other way to look at it, except that animals, just like humans, develop friendships outside their own species.

9 Blackfish:

  Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this profound story of Tilikum, a 12,000 pound orca, who initially received notoriety because he killed his trainer, Dawn Brancheua, in what seemed to be a deliberate act.  A sad situation all around, but the filmmaker points out that this was not the first incident with Tilikum; he has some issues with his captivity. While it is sad that Dawn and others have been attacked and killed in the course of their ‘training,’ what begins to emerge is this simple question: why do we even have orcas in tiny pools in the first place. You and I might have issues with being confined in our bedroom and occasionally be forced to hop on one leg by physically inferior animals. It might force a violent and deadly attack.  Through the course of the film, we learn a lot about how smart and social these animals are and just how cruel it is to imprison them for our entertainment.  We also learn that the rhetorical employed by SeaWorld to justify their cruelty is sophistry and specious; greed overwhelms empathy and compassion.  The impact of the film has affected SeaWorld’s bottom line. The exploiters have attempted to rationalize their treatment by arguing that orcas are somehow better off living in extreme confinement and forced to engage in absurd tricks for an uninitiated audience.  If this film can hasten the closure of all marine parks, it deserves enshrinement in the cinematic cannon.  Let’s hope it does just that. 

8 Grizzly Man:

 

Werner Herzog directs this unbelievable film about Timothy Treadwell. For 13 summers, Treadwell journeyed to the Alaskan wilderness, mostly alone, to document and live with grizzly bears. Treadwell fancied himself a documentarian and shot loads of footage of the grizzly bears and over the years developed a relationship with them. He speaks to the camera throughout the film, providing commentary on the grizzlies nearby. In fact, scientists have learned quite a bit from the footage.  Herzog uses this footage along with interviews of people who knew Treadwell to paint a fascinating and introspective picture of Treadwell.  To say that he has close encounters with the bears does not really convey the gravity of some of the situations we see. What is hard to imagine is that he is all often alone, but, tragically, not always. We see how he feels about the bears and other creatures but what also comes across is a portrait of his own psyche. This is truly riveting film that it ends horrifically. I won’t spoil anything, though you undoubtedly know what happens, if you know anything of the story. Still, though, it does offer a glimpse, as unsteady as it may seem, about the connection we often feel toward animals. 

7 Project Nim:

 

 Taken from his mother upon birth, Nim, a chimpanzee, is forced to participate in a ‘social” experiment.  Nim is raised with a human family to ascertain whether nature or nurture matters more. James Marsh creates a compelling and truly sad film about Nim, who never had any say in anything that happened to him. The documentary shows both the indifference and the concern people have for animals.  Chimps are cute when they are young. But as they mature into adults, chimps become much stronger than a full grown man, and they know it. They are aggressive and smart too. So as the Nim grows up and wants to be the alpha, problems develop.  Unable to handle Nim, he is sent to a research facility and then shipped around to several other facilities, narrowly escaping a death sentence in the process.  At the end of his life, after twenty years, he is re-united with his surrogate human family and particularly, his “mother.”  Honestly, this might seem too contrived, only it’s true.  Nim’s reaction is certainly consistent emotionally with any human who might have been abandoned by his family. 

6 One Nation Under Dog:

 We have a truly tortured relationship with man’s best friend.  All of the documentaries I have seen about animals, this one is nearly impossible to make it through without welling up with tears. If you love dogs, I’d say there is no way. Directors Ellen Kent, Jenny Carchman, and Amanda Michli examine a variety of ways we love, abuse and reject dogs, and it is heartbreaking.  What do they receive for their loyalty to us? Often it is abandonment. Indeed, the other day a story was featured on the news about a 10 year old dog who was surrendered to the local shelter because their child went off to college.  All I could think of was how cruel it is for the dog. This film reminds us that even though we claim to love dogs, we often do not. The documentary is on HBO, so it is available to subscribers.  

5-1 coming soon.