Search - Florilegium on DVD

I Wish It Was Longer

AMH | Seattle, WA | 01/17/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This documentary is telling two stories. The first is the voyage of Cook with the botanist Banks and the artist Parkinson around the world, becoming along the way the first Europeans to visit Australia. The second story is the laborious project of printing a hand-made "authentic" edition of the art work from this voyage, using the original copper plates that were fashioned 200 hundred years ago but never used (for some mysterious reason). Both stories are interesting and deserve more time. The format of the documentary cuts back and forth between the tale of the voyage and an explanation of the printing process. Sea paintings and contemporary (1984) footage from the visited cities, with indigenous music and the animated line on a map, accompany Robert Hughes's narration of the voyage. The printing project is explained with interviews and film clips of the process and Robert Hughes's narration. This printing project is flabbergasting in scope: I think it was supposed to take 10 years to finish, each set of the prints will fill 36 boxes that would stack up to approximately 15 feet, all the prints meticulously hand done. Robert Hughes is so damn erudite that it is always interesting to hear what he has to say. The DVD is worth viewing, if the subject matter is to your liking, although it leaves you wanting more."