EARTH

This BBC documentary movie, EARTH is being screened only at Lido. A movie not to be missed as there is of plenty of spectacular scenery.

The movie sends a very strong message of the need for environmental protection. It started with a lovely white scene of the North Pole, with a Polar bear emerging from her den with her 2 little adorable cubs. The mother bear had lost half her body weight over the winter period. She still could not rush off to feed as she had to care for her cubs.

Meanwhile the 'daddy' bear was off to his usual seal hunting ground. Unfortunately with the global warming, the ice broke up under his feet and he ended up swimming in the sea. The bear sensing there was no prey if he swimmed back to shore, choose to swim 'forward'. He landed on an island full of walrus.

Polar bear hunts for seal which is its main diet. However being desperate with hunger, he tried to prey on the walrus which is as strong and hugh as him, besides having 2 dangerous tusks. At first he tried attacking the pups, but then the adult walrus quickly formed a proctected barrier around their youngests. The bear then tried to attack the adult walrus with the little strength left.

The movie ended with the sombre scene of the feeble bear dying in the foreground. In the backgroud was the colony of walrus. It is an irony - so much 'food' and the bear died of hunger. The situation reminds one of those lost at sea - surrounded by plenty water but not a drop to drink and dying of thrist.

Many of the animals, like the polar bear could not adapt to the changing environment. Even if some of them can, it takes time for adaptation to set in. But our environment is changing at such a fast pace. Thus, many animals could be facing extinction in our life time. The movie narrator warned that if global warming continues, polar bear will be extinct by 2030.

I was pretty upset by the bear dying scene. I heard a child in the cinema asking her mother in disbelief 'Did the bear die?' I can't help wondering if the BBC crew helped the bear or notified some animal groups to help it. After all Polar bear is an endanger species. Yes, I do understand they are trying to capture the 'reality' on film and hopefully it could boost the environmental cause. But it just did not seems right to not do something about an endanger species and let it died in front of the camera.

The movie captures many species of animals over different seasons and in many parts of earth. Just that I choose to focus on the polar bear scenes and link them together as I believe this is the message the BBC film is trying to get across to the audience.