Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

tributarystu I wouldn't have expected such a strong, consistent and enticing show from a chicken documentary, just like most people here. Watching the tender tales of chicken love was a fun and, to some degree, beautiful experience. The connections that can be made between human beings and animal usually have this loving and innocent quality to them that eludes most relationships in life. To find these chicken stories and portray them in such a skillful way is surely a feat worth praising.Yet, while it is consistent with the world-view of this film, I resent the fact that industrially bred chicken - and their owners - are deemed to be inferior in passion and devotion. While the comments (or lack thereof) in presenting the larger chicken business do not go into blatantly manipulative affirmations against chicken products, they still spell out a very negative view of what is outlined to be exploitative behavior. I'm sure you can find interesting tales of care from farmers who happen to own large chicken housing establishments, because it's not easy at all to look after tens of thousands of chickens and ensure they live a healthy life. And while there is certainly a level of detachment involved in "the industrial chicken", it's necessity for basic and essential food products cannot be denied and should not be denigrated. To my mind, restricting the film to what it does best - establish the beauty of life - would've done it more good and would've conferred it a higher consistency and integrity, in a purely structural sense.Beyond this though, which is truly only a slight part of this documentary, I think it's worth a recommendation for its ability to encapsulate the specialness in this absolutely unique relationship people have with animals.

stevenjaba Channel surfing one night, I ran across what appeared to be a PBS program on chickens. While PBS programs tend to be different from the usual TV fare, this was way outside the norm. I stopped to see what this program really was, and within a few minutes, was hooked.What followed was an hour of sheer amusement. Really, this "documentary" is more about people than it is about chickens. And quite unusual people too! The next day around the office "water cooler", I found myself talking about chickens and the people who love them. Next thing I knew, I was trying to convince everyone that Mike the Headless Chicken really did exist once, a dispute that finally had to be resolved via internet research. I'm afraid the water-cooler will never be the same.If you take delight in the obscure, find humor in the quirky, watch this movie. It will be time well spent. Now - to track down one of this director's other movies: "Cane Toads: An Unnatural History". Sure to be a riot!

Ellen This little film is honestly quite captivating. The cinematography is so artistic, and the content is quirky, interesting, and entertaining. I appreciate that it juxtaposes the free-range chicken existence with the mass marketed chicken hatcheries. Yet it doesn't hammer on the viewer that it's wrong to eat chicken. It simply shows the interesting characters that can be found in chickens, and the people who care about them. I think it gives a very healthy viewpoint regarding appreciating them as creatures, and yet allowing us the right to eat them as well. The editing is quite good, well paced.This film is wonderful! If you like the movie Babe (the first one), you will be fond of this project.

noble70 As a documentary editor and film-maker (Tesla: Master of Lightning, Korean War Stories) I know how hard putting a piece like this together can be. I make a good portion of my living from publicly funded television, but this, even more than the checks I've recieved from my bosses, made me say, "Thank God for PBS." In this day and age, a piece of work this odd, beautiful, and though-provoking could only have been made possible by public television.Congratulations to all involved with "The Natural History of the Chicken."