youngmgmt Genesis is one of the most fascinating and relevant documentaries I have watched in my lifetime. As its title suggests, it is an account of the beginning of everything, but focuses most especially on the nature of life on our planet. It is an epiphany to watch for the first time, much like Powers Of Ten, another brilliant documentary. The truths contained in this film and the fashion in which they are masterfully woven into a much broader, overall picture are compelling, the imagery is mesmerizing, and for anyone who is truly interested in the essence and mannerisms of life as we know it, this film is an excellent introduction to a fuller, more complete understanding.

jldmp1 Yes, the visuals are dazzling. The pacing and camera stance are almost Kubrickian, which alone reminds us that we are seeing a movie, and not a Discovery channel feature. There are three narratives at work here, the visuals, our collective knowledge of science/nature that we have before experiencing these visuals, and the narration. Of these, the narration is the weakest link, nearly broken when we get to the conflation of biology with poetic 'love'. That is before......we get to Entropy. Movies themselves are a kind of struggle against entropy. Starting with a flood of chaotic images (elements), the movie's task is to go against the flow and try to impose a higher state of order -- a sort of life of its own in the viewer's mind. Through this device of self-reference, we are given the target criterion with which we judge the movie's quality: does the new order in your mind hold up against degradation? I would say yes. Not only visually, but narratively -- by looking at ourselves from outside ourselves, the trap of melodrama is avoided.Watch this and pay attention to the sight of a drop of milk dissolving in water, or the smoke rings...these are inherently cinematic notions: notions that belong with us among the tribe of the living.

w00f This effort by the team that brought us "Microcosmos" can't hold a candle to that film.While the visuals are attractive, they lack the originality and surprise that made "Microcosmos" the wonder that it is. In fact, there isn't a single substantial bit of footage in this film that isn't much like images one might see in nature documentaries from many other sources. These are woven together by a narrative that clearly wasn't written by the griot who tells the "story," but are instead words put into his mouth in a script written by others. The net effect of this leaves one all too often that one is watching stock footage that's been cobbled together.In the effort to describe everything and anything, this film sacrifices any depth whatsoever. We get, instead, an overly broad and utterly superficial ramble that comes off lacking any sincerity at all. The makers of "Genesis" would have done much better to have focused on one or two aspects of their overly-ambitious "story" rather than sacrificing the wonder and detail that gave "Microcosmos" its unique charm.The problem isn't that "Genesis" isn't like a Discovery Channel documentary. To the contrary, the problem is precisely that it IS so much like one, but it doesn't have as much depth. Aside from a few pretty pictures, "Genesis" is a disappointment.

s-kelle This movie is a quiet and meditative work of art. At first I thought it would be something like a school movie about evolution, but it turned out as a work of plainly contemplative (at some points almost voyeuristique) piece of art. The movie will disappoint people who expect a plot line. It comes rather along like a slideshow, intriguingly framed by Bruno Coulais' experimental soundtrack (which, however, gets out of hand at the end). Beautiful colourful macro pictures. The movie's best actor, the mudskipper, almost gives you the impression that you are being watched by the movie. A joyful avantgarde experience. For those who enjoy little offstream movies.