Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE VELVET QUEEN
Cert 12A
★★★★ In cinemas now
The snow leopard is an endangered species but the elusive big cat seems to be thriving in nature documentaries.
The Velvet Queen is the latest to chart a quest to see one of these magnificent creatures in its mountainous habitat. But it comes with a slight twist. As the adventurers are French, the gorgeous shots of the Himalayas are accompanied by lots of Gallic philosophising.
Travel writer Sylvain Tesson is clearly in awe of his “comrade”, acclaimed wildlife photographer Vincent Munier. As we follow them across Tibet, Tesson scribbles in his notebook and we hear him spin Munier’s craft as a way of life.
Munier uses an observational method called “the blind” which somewhat counterintuitively involves lots of looking through binoculars while sitting very still in a camouflaged anorak. “But this is what Bill Oddie has been doing for years,” you say. It
is indeed, but the Goodies twitcher never saw it as an exercise in dissolving his ego and becoming one with the natural world.
Before they spot the first signs of the star attraction, we are served a great score from Warren Ellis and Nick Cave, beautiful shots of supporting players and some wonderfully florid prose from Tesson.
As we watch a furry figure stalk what looks like a vulture, we hear him scribble, “A Pallas Cat pops up on a rocky spike with its hirsute head, syringe-canines and yellow eyes rectifying with a demonic glint its plushy cuddliness.” That’s a great line and marvellous work by whoever wrote the English subtitles.