Weknow more about the surface of Mars than the deepest parts of the oceans on our earth,” says David Attenborough, the iconic naturalist and narrator of Blue Planet II. 

That’s the idea that’s triggered the making of this seven-part BBC series that’s now playing at multiplexes across the country as a consolidated 133-minute film and has been brought to Indian theatres by TV channel Sony BBC Earth. When it beamed on UK screens in February 2017, Blue Planet II was hailed by many critics as “the greatest nature series of all time”. 

Filmed in some of the most stunning ocean waters in Mexico, New Zealand, the Great Barrier Reef and Alaska, the film is a visual feast, making you feel you are right in the middle of the ocean, navigating your way with the creatures that 
inhabit it. 

Blue Planet II — that marries substance with spectacle — talks about how the health of oceans is at risk, engaging on an emotional level even as it educates. 

Attenborough’s intimate narration gives the film much of its appeal, as you are left mesmerised, and often open-mouthed, at the images that float across your multiplex screen.

There are bottle-nosed dolphins diving into the waves, a swarm of birds ready to take flight, shoals of fish swimming almost in rhythm and  walruses hunting in packs — it’s beautiful... and opens up a whole new world that leaves you stunned. It’s humbling as well as eye-opening. 

My favourite images? The shots of the ocean beneath an iceberg, described by Attenborough as “the coldest waters on earth”. And yes, that stunning shot of a fish that has feet instead of fins! 

If the ocean is unexplored, many of the creatures that are shown thriving in the ocean are unknown. Facts related to oceans and the flora and fauna in it will leave you mind-boggled. Like a fish named trevally that can apparently calculate the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow and snatch it out of 
mid-air!
Filmed over four years, Blue Planet II engrosses you even when there isn’t a spectacle playing out on screen. You stare at the screen mesmerised as the majestic waves break one after the other, almost poetically.

PR
Blue Planet II — One Ocean & The Deep is playing at PVR Mani Square (10.30am & 8.55pm)