Learning to See: The World of Insects

This documentary didn't blow my mind with some twisted tale. It did , however, nourish my soul. It felt so good to watch something that felt good for me. The pacing, the story, the bonds, the .... well it was done well, with care and it shows. It was the best kind of break from shows and movies and I love ants so while it wasn't about insects in the way I anticipated it was about a man learning to see the world and it opened up my eyes to take a look at the world all around me. I watched this yesterday and usually try to wait to see how a show sits with me before reviewing. I say 10 but by my own standards thaT would mean most anyone could sit down be riveted , but I would recommend this for family movie night - it has just enough of everything and so much if what I wasn't expecting

This documentary centers on one man's exploration of a new way of life and the development of new talents related to natural history and photography. Starting a new life in Colombia and learning to see the magnificent insects that populate the Neotropical rain forests, Oelman developed exceptional abilities as an insect photographer enabling him to share these wonders of nature with others, with the hope of providing an impetus for saving the natural habitats that are home to these creatures before they are destroyed. The film highlights Mr. Oelman's personal journey in finding a new way of life and a new career. The film is filled with exquisite and intriguing photographs of tropical insects.

Learning to See is a film that I recommend every person to see if they want to experience the rapturous beauty of the most tiny of rain forest creatures. Learning to See will reveal to you how precious and interconnected all life is on earth. This magnificently photographed film is an inspiring personal transformation story that invites each of us to learn to see the Beauty in All that Is...no matter what it is. I saw it twice and will enjoy seeing it many more times.

'Learning to See' gives so many more reasons to love and preserve rain forests worldwide, as if we needed another. Visually stunning, emotionally compelling, and continuously thought-provoking, the film will surprise even avid followers of rain forest fauna. Hopefully, this will be one piece from which a critical mass of earthlings will be learning to see.

After reading the other reviews I came to the conclusion that I must be the only one that wasn't that impressed by this documentary. I thought I was going to learn a lot of new things about insects and that documented by beautiful images. There is no doubt Robert Oelman is a brilliant photographer though. Very nice picture of to us unknown insects, he clearly knows how to use his macro-lens camera. For that it was worth watching, but I didn't like the story about why and how he became a photographer and so on, that's just not interesting material for people that want to learn more about insects. And that kind of footage is overly present in this documentary. It became more a documentary about Robert Oelman than about insects. A better title would have been Learning about macro-photography: The World Of Robert Oelman. Well that's only my opinion, and even if I still enjoyed the insect pictures, I just wished they only did that, with a nice narrating voice of David Attenborough for example, instead of explaining us how much money Robert Oelman paid for his finca and other futile uninteresting things like that. I would buy a book with his photos though, and probably enjoy it much more than this documentary.