Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari (Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries). 2024. Italy/Switzerland. Directed by Massimo d’Anolfi, Martina Parenti. North American premiere. In English, German, Italian; English subtitles. 206 min.
Like some modern-day Linnaeus, the Italian filmmaking duo Massimo d’Anolfi and Martina Parenti have created a breathtaking inquiry into humanity’s relationship with the natural world—animals, plants, and minerals—through three distinct storytelling techniques: Bestiaries: Cinema Invents New Cages is a found-footage taxonomy of animals and their treatment throughout the history of cinema; Herbaria: The Cure is an observational documentary about the world’s oldest botanical garden, founded in Padua in 1545, that becomes a hymn to the restorative beauty of plants; and Lapidaries: The Fossils of the Future is a reflection on the role of stones in war, destruction, and memorialization. Some lines of Wordsworth’s poetry come to mind: “The world is too much with us; late and soon,/Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—/Little we see in Nature that is ours;/We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”