Fantastic Fungi

My subject line says it all, and I basically find myself in agreement with most of this documentary's critics. The time-lapse photography of sprouting mushrooms, branching molds, etc., is breathtaking. The narration that accompanies it is empty, useless, disorganized to the point of incoherence, filled with random claims about the wonders and cosmic significance of fungi, and ultimately a bore. The decision to focus on the biography of one individual mushroom maven seems particularly misguided.

Love fungi, love the photographic work in this flick, and very much appreciate where the folks who directed the production want to "mainstream" fungi.

More folks *need* to understand how important fungi are. It's also a wonderful ponder to reflect on how higher fungi grow and reproduce.

But... geez... did they *have to* inject specious pseudoscientific stuff about how a mycelial mass is like a brain, and trees use those masses to "communicate" with each other?

I'm about 99% sure the stuff they're implying is a weird romanticization of fungi... and that's (pardon the mixed metaphor) "gilding the lily", seeing how the "lily" (fungi) are deeply fascinating, without the added speculation.

Folks are also chiming in to deride the infomercial-ish 2nd half of the flick... but the stuff I describe just above--the stuff that rubs me so wrong--kicks in only about 12% into the production.

They could have kept it more grounded and scientific, and STILL been able to convey a scientifically grounded awe about fungi.

So... as much as I wished this flick could be the audio-visual poster-boy intro to that amazing world for the newbie... these affronts leave me unable to recommend it to those newbies.

And that's a shame.

It only gets as many stars as I give it because 1) the complementary payload of honest, scientific info is nice, and 2) Geez, but those visuals are amazing!

Before I say anything else I just wanted to mention that the CGI is absolutely beautiful in the documentary. I was surprised to see no other review mentioned the stunning CGI. The graphics are hands down one of the best I've ever seen in a documentary, especially the scene that shows the tree/mycelium network.

The documentary starts off pretty good, it offers a lot of interesting information and explores the world of fungi. We get introduced to a few scientists/hobbyists who make up the work of fungi research (They all look exactly how you'd expect a mushroom researcher to look haha). I particularly liked learning about how trees will use the mycelium network to give nutrients to each other.

The second half of the documentary does take a turn for the worst. The documentary switches from being about the fungi, to being about the people that like fungi. Though I do enjoy the people's enthusiasms for the field, It made the documentary slow down substantially and I found myself losing attention. You could cut off the last 30 minutes or so and the documentary would be amazing.

Overall, I recommend watching Fantastic Fungi but don't feel guilty turning it off towards the end because you won't miss much.

Mushrooms may not kill cancer or reduce the anxiety of dying, but how would we know unless they are researched?

This is a visually satisfying film about mycology. It shows many of the ways we depend on fungus and how many more ways we could use it. It hints at the War on Drugs, and how it set back research 50 years. It does not talk about the double problems of Big Pharma or the petrochemical business in hampering it, but it should.

We live in a wonderful world, of which we are a small part. We should be grateful for the oddballs who are trying new ways to save us.

Even though majority of the film feels to be informercial, I enjoyed it very much. "Mushroom voice" was a bit strange and the feeling of disbelief would not leave me at some moments. But in the end, this Psilocybin thing is acknowledged by FDA and seems to truly help people. So I do not mind this to be informercial in order to spread the word. The story is touching enough and the visuals are just tops.