Mechanics of an eternal life in the film "Sipadan - The Island of turtles", made by Oleg Bozhok

Does anybody know where the Celebes sea is? It is unlikely.

Now, each viewer has a possibility not only to close the gaps in his own knowledge, but also to see the unique coral world, marvel at the tropic fauna and shed a tear, looking at newborn turtles.

"Sipadan - the island of turtles" keeps on traditions of popular science film in our country. It's the second film of "Russian Underwater Expeditions". Sipadan - is a romantic dream, made into a movie. Daydreams about diving with big green turtles make a reality in this film.

There is also paid much attention to our Russian underwater operators-divers. The basic idea of this film of the operator Oleg Bozhok is both easy and great at the same time. And the film about Sipadan turtles is not traditional at all. It absolutely differs from dialogues and scenes of the famous "Cousteau`s Odyssey ". It's some kind of a film-report. There is no any strained scene.

Captious critic can find there some disadvantages: for example, so called "speaking heads" - Moscow interview with participants of the expedition - Andrey Gorodisskiy, Aleksey Gorodisskiy and Leonid Kiryakov. But it's so just for a captious critic, not for a talented viewer. "Busts" are quite appropriate here. The heroes of the interview are nice and educated persons, with open heart and perfect sense of humor.

It's unusual practice to use studio recordings in popular science films. The operator is a "sharp eye", helping us to see all details. Bozhok has taken risks and enlarged a creative area. We have a possibility not only to see details, but also watch and hear (that's much more important) the operators themselves.

The interview was made like some kind of a visual notebook to be source of information. One way or another, Bozhok looked through the recording and decided "these fellows were too good in action". The nice material dropped into his lap itself. Different fragments of that recording were put together. The result was very organic.

This vivid emotional description salts the film with some interesting details and gives the explanation of some film's moments: for example, the fight between two Malaysian dragons, commented by the senior operator Leonid Kiryakov. Or the moment of barracuda's "invasion", explained by the photographer Andrey Gorodisskiy. Besides, the participation of photographer in an expedition is almost a rule. The necessity of such a post is dictated by the circumstances, to be more exact, by the main idea of the film.

Putting out to the sea, the fellows have got a task to document all the details of turtles' life. It was necessary to catch the moment of egg laying, and than the moment of little turtle's birth and its sea "communion'; sea "family life" and the shore, and again egg laying. Local rangers didn't share the producer's opinion and prohibited to take a picture of turtles. They said that such an irradiation could harm the turtle-layer. But our operators resorted to cunning. Andrey Gorodisskiy managed to take some photos of "turtle lying-in" at night with his photo camera.

So, the fellows got out of that difficulty. All necessary details of turtle's life were gathered together. But frames of "pasture" are the main object of divers' pride. It is a large many-colored glade, overgrown with seaweed - the favorite dinner place of various turtles.

"Sipadan - the island of turtles" is not just detailed story about wanderings of magnificent turtles. There are very many amazing moments, concerning the private life of islanders, local geography and peculiarities of environment. The author furnished the film with many vivid details, both the surface and the underwater worlds. Many-colored angelfishes are biting round the reef. It is a morning. Than, you can watch homely native, carrying two huge silvery fishes directly to the shore cookhouse. Everything is changeable on Sipadan, even warm tropic currents.

One of the most vivid subject in Sipadan story - is a rainy season...You can watch it without music accompaniment - wet bananas; streams of water flowing down from bamboo roofs; clay pots, left on the terrace. That is the easy truth of nature. The artist underlines it very tactfully and carefully: vivid scenes from outside life, somewhere near the Celebes sea. And it also rains there. As well as it can rain in our country. The sun shines on the screen. Than, the next frame is 10 little turtles are in the bucket. Oh! The little turtles run to the ocean with "non-turtles" speed.

It's some kind of confrontation or comparison between new little life and boundless expanses of the ocean. Bozhok tries to explain the eternal Circle of life - so called mechanics of an eternal life- with the help of nature: people and animals, plants and the ocean. Maybe it sounds banal, but it is the main item of all documentary films about environment. Everybody wants to live - live forever.

By Olga Kazak