THE HUMAN HIBERNATION
Review by Ariadne Si Suo
In the face of nature, words have become plain and hollow. Mesmerising visuals reach our hearts profoundly before rational thoughts come into form. We lose interest in human dialogues, and instead start to wonder what the cows have been saying this whole time. THE HUMAN HIBERNATION by Catalan filmmaker Anna Cornudella Castro is a transformative journey – by the end of this film, we see ponds in a completely different light.
This is a world where humans hibernate, and live together with nature and animals like the dawn of mankind. Vibrant green foliage pours through the open door and sprawls all over the floor. A goat wanders through the kitchen, and a reptile curls comfortably in a drawer. Snakes and humans both crawl out after the winter. Innovative cinematography by Artur-Pol Camprubí and cohesive editing by Marc Roca Vives blur the boundary between all living creatures. Nature has reclaimed its space.
With few spoken words and almost no plot, this film offers an immersive experience of living with nature. We ought to accept the absence of conventional storytelling as a premise. The focus is on sensory experiences. Ice slowly melts and floats along, crackling as the pieces bump into each other. We are invited to meditate on every little moment in nature as if we’re seeing them for the first time. THE HUMAN HIBERNATION brings us back to the childlike sense of wonder. We feel closer to nature than ever.
In this FIPRESCI award-winning film, we’re often confronted with close-ups of natural phenomena and creatures. Shape, texture, and form flow directly into us before the brain could recognize what the scene is. These extra few seconds allow us to see familiar things in a new way by attending to specific sensory data. We get feeling before thinking. Meanwhile, long shots of snow, rain, and trees provide time for us to fully engage all our senses, and an opportunity for reflection on the aesthetic of nature. If you’re a fan of Andrei Tarkovsky or Theo Angelopoulos, you’re probably used to this already. Nature doesn’t need words to communicate with us, as long as we have patience and an open mind.
After hibernation, we wake up to a whole new world. THE HUMAN HIBERNATION is such an experience in itself. When we step out of the cinema, the trees on the street look different. Something has changed – we’re more connected to nature now. Under the spotlight, a man in white suit sings Frank Sinatra to the cows. After the film, we too want to sing to the cows.