Producer-director Greg MacGillivray has been making stunning IMAX documentaries on every corner of the globe since the IMAX format was introduced four decades ago.
His latest, the 40-minute 3D film “Journey to the South Pacific,” is another jewel, but this time with a manufactured storyline featuring a local teenaged boy in the tropical waters of West Papua, Indonesia. Or at least, 13 year-old Jawi, a local boy who spoke no English during the two months of production, is the central figure who is trailed by giant IMAX cameras as he boards a boat for an educational adventure exploring the reefs that support his family and inhabitants of the island.
Aerial shots to underwater close-ups are visually staggering with the unparalleled combination of 3D and the giant IMAX screen. And the tracking of a giant leatherback turtle who swims 6,000 miles to a specific beach to lay eggs of babies that will almost all die in their ill-fated slow race down the sands of the beach to the water never ceases to astound. Fortunately, this is not one of those hyper-realistic documentaries that seems to revel in showing the painful death of these creatures. A verbal description is sufficient, thank you.
Of course, these days every nature documentary seems compelled to convey an overt message of ecology and warnings of human-caused destruction. But the message is conveyed in a relatively pleasing and somewhat subtle manner that allows the viewer to enjoy the eye-popping images. Likewise, actress Cate Blanchett offers soothing narration that does not distract the viewer with her celebrity.
In a recent screening and a follow-up Q&A with critic and movie expert Leonard Maltin, MacGillivray described the production challenges of flying 26 hours with a handful of 250-pound cameras (which grow to 2,000 pounds for aerial cameras with gyroscope system) and the good fortune of enjoying extensive time with giant whale sharks. He also describes the virtues of the unique nature of the IMAX format, with a three-ring circus of elements to look at in every frame of film, and the superiority of film compared to digital. See the 4 1/2-minute dialogue in the video below…
— By Scott Hettrick