A respected producer (winning an Oscar for Costa-Gavras's "Z"), and an actor with over 100 feature appearances to his name, Frenchman Jacques Perrin has a particular interest in filming nature. "Microcosmos" explored the insect world, whilst his latest, the Oscar-nominated "Winged Migration" (which he directed and produced), follows the paths of migratory birds...
Why did you decide to make such an epic documentary about the migration of birds?
There were many reasons. Partly it was because I had seen this little documentary about an Englishman and a Canadian who had flown for the first time ten years ago with Canada geese. What I liked about this documentary was it didn't have a pedagogic approach. I realised that I wanted to follow different species of bird going all around the world, to remind us that we are not alone on this planet, that we are in the territory of others, who also have a right to live.
And the bird is a symbol of a freedom, from the Bible to Picasso. There is a common story between birds and man, and I wanted "Winged Migration" to be a homage to the beauty and freedom of birds. I knew that if we could solve all the technical problems, we could make a magnificent adventure.
Why did you choose to use such little voiceover and explanation in the film?
At the end it was a compromise. We didn't want an educational approach, and at over 90 minutes a commentary would have been too much for the viewer. I would have preferred no voiceover at all and a minimum of explanation of the birds' paths. The film is like a dream, it's not supposed to be a learning experience. If you're a bird-watcher already, you can recognise everything. If you don't know about birds, it's an introduction and hopefully you will want to learn more.
Given that it took three years to shoot across seven different continents, and the production involved 450 people, did you have doubts about completing such an enormous undertaking?
I had doubts about the financing, but in my career as a producer, I've always found a solution. With 450 people, it's very much a collaborative exercise, and everyone helped find the day-to-day solutions to problems. Even when you have problems, when you see the birds flying and when you fly with them, all your worries disappear.
Wasn't it difficult editing down some 300 hours of footage to a final cut of 90 minutes?
It wasn't, because in the film you follow the movements of seasons and of nature as well as the flights of the birds. That provides you with a natural continuity.
Some American journalists have claimed that you deliberately harmed birds during the making of the film...
I swear that is not the case. When you see crabs eating a wounded bird, it's not a real bird. When you see birds polluted by an oil-slick, it's not real oil. We showed these scenes about hunting and pollution, not for an ecological message, but because we wanted to show the obstacles for these particular birds.
"Winged Migration" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 5th September 2003.
