Mythic wonders of life, up close and personal

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, certain snakes gotta open their jaws to astonishing widths in order to swallow large, speckled eggs of assorted fowl. In "Genesis," filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou — whose 1996 documentary "Microcosmos" proved a near-miraculous vision of hidden insect life in an ordinary French meadow — present the violent consumption of one Earthly life form by another as a drama to relish with state-of-the-art lenses and holistic wisdom.

Six years in the making, "Genesis" is an uplifting if occasionally doctrinaire effort to recast common theories about the universe's development as a mythic history lesson.

The charismatic narrator is played by Sotigui Kouyaté, a busy actor ("Dirty Pretty Things") born in 1936 into a family of griots, or oral storytellers, from what is now Burkina Faso. Sitting in a mud hut and using elemental props, Kouyaté's Storyteller spins a unifying tale of creation, simply yet elegantly describing the Big Bang, the tumultuous formation of planet Earth and the emergence of increasingly complex life.

Movie review

Showtimes and trailer

"Genesis," starring Sotigui Kouyaté. Written and directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou. 80 minutes. Not rated (scenes of reptilian/amphibious animal and insect fighting and mating rituals). In French with English subtitles. Varsity.

While the dulcet-voiced Storyteller enchants, Nuridsany and Pérennou unveil characteristically awe-inspiring footage of cyclical life and death processes among animals and insects.

As with "Microcosmos," viewers will retain strong memories of certain scenes, such as the balletic mating ritual of graceful seahorses and territorial combat between hefty, no-nonsense lizards. Brilliant lighting, innovative cinematography and sophisticated, 4-D sonograms reveal perhaps the clearest images ever of unborn young from several species, including very active human fetuses.

"Genesis" makes a compelling case for the commonality of design and behavioral patterns in nature, though at times connections (such as the flow of blood through arteries and water through rivers) feel a bit stubborn. Still, Nuridsany and Pérennou have made another breathtaking feature penetrating the unseen kingdom around us.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com