AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

'Nature: Santa's Wild Home'
(DVD / PG / 2021 / PBS)

Overview: Green lights dance across a star-filled sky, and snowflakes sparkle on the trees. It is little wonder Lapland is famous as a realm of elves and flying reindeer, the magical home of Santa Claus.

This northernmost region of mainland Europe, however, is a real place, with real animals such as reindeer, Great Gray owls, wolverines, eagles, wolves, musk oxen and Brown bears who live out their lives in the tundra and forest.

Get an intimate look into life in Lapland through the changing seasons, long after the Christmas lights are taken down, and where only the toughest survive.

DVD Verdict: Of course, we all know who Santa Claus is, but through repeated tellings and alterations (and cola advertisements), the true story of Father Christmas can get a bit watered down.

Ironic, considering the legend of Santa is a distillation of hundreds of stories, including historical figures like Saint Nicholas, myths like Father Christmas, Viejo Pascuero, Sinterklaas, Weihnachtsmann, Joulupukki, Pere Noel, and even Norse gods like Odin.

For hundreds of years, these stories and more have been told to children in European and western countries when the days grow short and snowflakes fall like fairy dust over the land.

But what of where he lives? Well, once upon a time, the northernmost part of mainland Europe was freely roamed by nomadic people who, indeed, had almost magically adapted themselves to their Arctic environment.

The Sami people lived in tents called lavvus. By the mid-16th century, the economy was based on farming and herding reindeer. Their homeland at the top of the Scandinavian peninsula became known to outsiders as Lapland.

They knew no frontiers, taking their animals inland during the winter and, for the most part, out to relatively mosquito-free reaches of the coast in the summer. It was largely through them that the Norwegians, Finns, Swedes and others from the south learned how to survive, and enjoy, the Arctic.

Today, these indigenous people of the north still live there – albeit in modern houses. And they continue to herd reindeer, but they now have to respect international boundaries.

Technically, "Lapland" still stretches across the same region – from northern Norway to Russia's Kola Peninsula, encompassing northern Sweden and northern Finland on the way.

Quite apart from the intriguing culture of the area's communities, this is a place of intensely beautiful fjords, of inland lakes and trees and, of course, of extreme contrasts, with bright summers of abundant wildflowers, and almost sunless winters when the snow-covered world around shimmers in a haunting green/blue light.

As for the featured Species, here is a list: Great Gray owl, Eurasian wolf, Golden eagle, European Brown bear, Reindeer, Musk ox, Eurasian Lynx, Black grouse, Wolverine and Orca.

Some of the stand out moments here over the 52 minutes are when we get to witness the mass migration of hundreds of thousands of reindeer.

Guided by Sami herders, the two-week journey is a spectacular sight. As the snow begins to thaw with the change of seasons, the reindeer need to reach their feeding grounds by the coast, before the snow gets too soft to run on.

A mother brown bear teaches her young cubs how to find food and to survive threats, such as older male bears and wolverines. Each scrap of meat can be contested, as seen when the mother bear and a wolf fight over a meal.

And we also learn that the great gray owl is a nomad in the frozen forests. These owls can fly more than 1,000 miles in search of prey, hunting for signs of movement beneath the snow. One female owl has three little owlets to keep fed, and they demand several large meals a day. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.PBS.org





...Archives