Vivan las Antipodas

Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky's documentary Vivan las Antipodas is built from an interesting concept, offering a comparison of cultures located on directly opposite sides of the planet. A quartet of antipodes was chosen for this compare/contrast experiment: Entre Rios in Argentina is matched against Shanghai; Patagonia in Chile is set against Russia's Lake Baikal; Botswana in southern Africa finds a mate in Hawaii's Big Island; and Miraflores in Spain is diametrically opposite to New Zealand's Castle Point. In many respects, the locations have almost nothing in common, especially in the case of the sleepy rural peacefulness of Entre Rios and its chaotic cousin across the globe in overcrowded Shanghai. But in other ways, each locale shares the common link of a fragile connection with the surrounding world. Sometimes, nature offers nasty surprises—most notably with the startling presence of a beached whale at Castle Point—but for the most part, the ebb and flow of life is safely predictable. Unfortunately, once the initial novelty of comparing cultures begins to wear off, the film—which combines beautiful cinematography (some displayed upside-down!) with a rousing score by Alexander Popov—becomes little more than a picturesque travelogue offering a respectful view of various peoples around the world. A winner of the Cinematic Vision Award at AFI's Silverdocs festival, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)