If there is one thing that you come away with from Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari by filmmakers Martina Parenti and Massimo D’Anolfi, it is that the planet would thrive without humans on it. This powerful documentary warrants your fullest attention, as it takes your breath away.

Divided into three acts on animals, plants, and stones, this docu-encyclopedia explores life’s essential elements through distinct storytelling styles—a tribute to often-overlooked yet integral aspects of our existence on Earth.

First things first, Bestiari, Erbaria, Lapidari has an absolutely mammoth runtime of 206 minutes, almost enough for all three of its segments to be their own feature film. Yet, somehow, you barely feel that time when watching the documentary. (It helps that there is a convenient intermission slotted in there for theatrical audiences.) The flow and pacing that the duo implement into the editing are utterly sublime. From a pure filmmaking perspective, the film becomes as much a celebration of the art of editing as it is a presentation of the actual narrative or story.

Split into three sections, as the title suggests, we begin with animals, but more importantly, the human relationship with animals. This found footage-esque section will be hard to watch for some, as it does show animal suffering, but what actually makes it harder to watch is the realisation that not only were some of these animals being experimented on, but their suffering was being documented for future research. They were viewed less as animals and more as objects or instruments, used for the benefit of humans.

While these moments verge on being testing, it’s on purpose, it is to show us what we have done to animals that did not deserve such treatment, but because we believe we are superior, that we can thrust our will on another species, just because we can, is utterly abhorrent behaviour and the fact that it was filmed leaves an altogether sour taste in the mouth. However, these moments have been intentionally added here, with titles that D’Anolfi and Parenti have included in this section, which are very telling of their thoughts on what we are seeing.

The documentary transitions to a more melancholy phase with the second section of Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari, which becomes more like a traditional observational doc than what we saw beforehand, as we explore the topic of plant life while visiting the botanical garden in Padova. Here we are shown and told how integral the existence of plant life is for humans to remain living on the planet. Despite all of our efforts thus far, nature will always find a way to survive us. Here is where the film pulls us back in, presenting a stark contrast to the section that preceded it. This switching of tones and narrative styles is particularly interesting, as, in theory, they should not work; yet, here, they do, and do so with ease.

Finally, we move to rock and stone and see how humans have used this material to construct memorials for those lost to war, another human idea that has ravaged the planet. At all times, you are really pondering how much humans have not ruined, but rather tarnished, the planet. Our world is a beautiful thing, an ever-evolving one. Yet, all we do, in one way or another, is try to destroy it and ourselves, because of some misguided superiority complex. Yet, if we were to be wiped out tomorrow, what would still be there? Some animals, plants and the rock on which they stand. The world doesn’t need us, but damn, if we don’t need it, and maybe we should act that way. This dialogue about our existence and place in the world is as poetic as it is profound, thanks to the work of our two filmmakers.

Bestiari, Erbari, Lapidari is quite special viewing, far more absorbing than a documentary like it could ever dream to be, when you are not rapt from what they have pieced together and the story they are telling us, you are astounded by their skill as filmmakers, making their film not only special but deeply educational.

★★★★★

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