Several years before he hit it big with his "Gods Must Be Crazy" comedies, South African writer / producer / cinematographer / editor / music supervisor Jamie Uys made this endearing documentary. About four years in the making itself, this is an endearing film with an often comedic bent.
Its main intent is to document animal behaviour in the forbidding environments of the White and Red Namib deserts, where many species struggle to survive. It also shows us an isolated jungle paradise in the middle of the desolation, along the banks of a river, and how the beasts that live there tend to take their easier lives for granted. In the final half hour or so, Uys introduces us to some of the indigenous people of the region, and their own methods for survival.
Some of the most memorable bits involve some ingenious behaviours in the animal kingdom, such as the mother bream that allows her thousand offspring to swim into her mouth so that they are safe from predators. Some species actually collaborate on the search for food, which is fascinating to see. Some of the comedy comes from animal actions we see as recognizable: when the various species ingest too many of the berries from the Marula tree and basically stagger around in a drunken sort of state. It's also funny to see when that one bird constantly foils the efforts of a tribesman to obtain his prey.
The film may be perhaps a little too precious and manipulative at times (it didn't need the comedy sound effects on the soundtrack), but it never goes truly overboard in terms of sentiment. Some of the most riveting material involves the often perilous lack of water that can kill off many animals.
Enhanced by classical works by the likes of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, "Animals Are Beautiful People" is wonderful entertainment for anybody who's ever taken interest in nature documentaries on TV. It has a delightful cast of two-legged, feathered, four-legged, and many-legged area residents, and is delightfully narrated by Paddy O'Byrne.
Eight out of 10.
