Fantastic Fungi

source: Fantastic Fungi

This film is about you, in the end. This film is about you, in the end.

My subject line says it all, and I basically find myself in agreement with most of this documentary's critics. The time-lapse photography of sprouting mushrooms, branching molds, etc., is breathtaking. The narration that accompanies it is empty, useless, disorganized to the point of incoherence, filled with random claims about the wonders and cosmic significance of fungi, and ultimately a bore. The decision to focus on the biography of one individual mushroom maven seems particularly misguided.

Being a trained mycologist, I found it quite heartening to see Paul Stamets and others actually use the correct pronunciation (Fun-jai) and instead of (Fun-guy) or (Fun-gee). The graphics used to show the ubiquitous nature of fungal mycelia in the soil was amazing. The time-lapsed photography is phenomenal and the few inserted personal storylines are effectively portrayed. There is an informative, extensive sequence on the medical use of Psilocybe for helping people with anxiety and other conditions. I watched this via VIMEO and unfortunately there weren't subtitles which would be helpful to keep note and track when they are using scientific names.

Some of the best time lapse photography shots I have seen await you should you take the time to watch. Putting the brilliant filmography aside, the scientific information exposed will blow your mind. All the nonsense that we currently experience today through the multitude of medias will take a backseat, if not eradicated if we all follow the message in this brilliant production. A must watch. You may learn something.

Greetings again from the darkness. Why did the mushroom get invited to the party? Because he's a fun guy (fungi)! That joke works better when spoken rather than read, but it made me laugh as a kid, even though it wasn't enough to keep me (and half my classmates) awake during those dull science films in junior high. Documentarian Louie Schwartzberg obviously stayed awake in class, and now he's showing us how those films should be made ... interesting, informative and entertaining. "We brought life to Earth. You can't see us. We are mushrooms!" Narrator Brie Larson (yes, Captain Marvel herself) introduces fungus, or more accurately, fungi ... since we are told there are 1.5 million species - 20,000 of which produce mushrooms. Despite the presence of Ms. Larson, this isn't a superhero movie. No, it's much more important. In fact, the real star of the documentary - other than fungi - is an amateur mycologist named Paul Stamets. That's right, this informative project devotes much of its time to some guy who just likes science (oh my, does he like it); specifically, the study of fungus and mushrooms. He even tells us some of his personal story, allowing us to connect with a guy who is proud to be known as a mushroom nerd. Director Schwartzberg is an accomplished documentarian, and noted time-lapse photographer and visual artist. He even uses impressive digital animation periodically to guide us along. He's also smart enough to complement Mr. Stamets' observations with input from real life scientists, as well as authors and researchers. Admittedly, it's not really fair to classify Stamets as an amateur. He has written books and his research has been invaluable to some of the world's foremost experts. You may wonder why you should care about fungi. Heck, it's described as something between vegetable and animal. We hear that it's been around since the beginning, and that it plays a role in rebirth, reincarnation, and regeneration. This is shown via a memorable time-lapse segment, and with the bold proclamation that Mycelium is "the mother of us all." We learn how fungi is such a vital part of our existence through medical research, penicillin (and chees), antibiotics, bio-terrorism, psychedelics, and now even the treatment of depression and cancer. Fungi can feed you (it's good on pizza), heal you, and even kill you. The film is quite a fascinating and educational treat ... and a lesson in biological resilience. And I never once fell asleep - my junior high teacher wouldn't believe it.

The photage is fantastic, but I could not stand even more then 10 minutes of the program, because of all the narrators. The photage jumps so much between photages of mushrooms and talking people, that are clearly super excited about telling everything they know about fungi. Its just not relaxing and it becomes very irritating, to the point I had to end it after 10 minutes. If you are doing a nature documentary about plants, fungi or animals,, you don't need that much focus on humans. Just give us the photages of the fungi and a voiceover giving us information. So sorry but, no, this format was bad.

I just wrote a two page reflection. Thank you to Eric Horn for this recommendation and link to watching it. I am forever changed from watching this documentary. I want to write more but I'll leave my external reflection to that duty. Thank you for putting this into the world and for all your work mycology community.

Geewizz dialogue, sparkly repetitive graphics, swelling heartfelt sound track, and very little information on actual fungi. Half of the movie was an infomercial on psychedelics.

I have seen this once and I am going to a second screening with my family. I am so excited for this movie to be seen by the world. It is a beautiful and inspiring film capturing the work of great heroes (fungal and human!). I hope more people will become inspired by this film to create important changes and innovations in society for all...especially people who need help the most. Please enjoy this amazing film and share with friends and family!