by Matthew Cobb
This interview with David Attenborough dropped* last week. It’s only 10 minutes long, but it really is remarkable. The interviewer is young film-maker Tom Parry, who asks some very simple, straightforward questions, and elicits some intimate and heartfelt responses. Except Tom is also interviewed by Attenborough, and Tom’s responses are equally profound. This is truly a meeting of the generations.
Disclosure: a little over two years ago, Tom was my final year Zoology student at the University of Manchester. Readers of WEIT were some of the first to see Tom’s work. His first film, which he made with me, was on the peppered moth story, and you helped give him feedback on it. The WEIT post, and a link to the film (which is great!) is here.
* Just to annoy PCC(E)
Response by JAC: I am annoyed, but less by the Millennial word “dropped” than by the fact that we can’t access YouTube on the ship, and so I can’t see the interview.
Hi Jerry,
Is Youtube blocked on the ship, like it is when you pay for wifi on flights so people don’t take up too much bandwith? If so, using a proxy will usually often around that. You can use free versions of procy extensions on your browser to do it.
Richard Attenborough is one of my absolute heroes. The man is a world heritage site unto himself.
“The man is a world heritage site unto himself.”
There may be some title equivalent for cherished human beings. Perhaps, at least, a Nobel.
There is in Japan, I think, a group of artisans and others who have been designated National Cultural Treasures. If the UK had that, Attenborough would surely be one!
I just remembered he’s Sir David Attenborough, which is good, but perhaps doesn’t quite capture it.
Saw Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria) yesterday, BJ. He’s in top form. Starring Antonio Banderas, in the full bloom of deep middle age (and playing a character who feels even older due to a host of physical infirmities), in what I think is his finest, most-nuanced performance ever. (The first thing I ever saw Banderas in, and it seems not that long ago, was Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, in which he seemed little more than a teenager.) It’s a beautiful, poignant, bitter-sweet film, and recursively autobiographical — a movie about an aging filmmaker who’s plumbed his own biography for material made by an aging filmmaker who’s plumbed his own biography for material. And it’s replete with Almodóvar’s recurring themes (or maybe “obsessions” is a better word for it): sexuality, drug use, sacrilegious Catholicism, the works.
Almodóvar is nothing if not a meticulous artist, and here he works with an odd pallette of highly contrasting, unusual colors that seem fairly to leap off the screen.
Yep, it’s an absolutely perfect film in every respect.
I’m always looking forward to Almodovar’s next film. I was really excited when I heard he was teaming up with Banderas again.
Love Almodóvar! Tried to see his latest at TIFF this year but it was sold out. Will see it soon.
If everyone on the ship used a proxy this way, it might bring everyone else’s access to a crawl. A better solution would be to demand high-speed internet access on such voyages. I suspect the technology is available and not tremendously expensive relative to the cost of sending a ship to Antarctica, though I have no idea what it would actually cost.
In Britain we have people who are often referred to as ‘a national treasure’. They are a mixed bunch of lovable personalities, writers, comedians, actors and such like who make us feel feel good about ourselves. David Attenborough is right up there with them.
I think I’d enjoy getting away from the internet & SMS for a few weeks.
Anyway… a VPN isn’t going to do any good, YouTube, NetFlix etc are blocked on most cruise ships because the ship-satellite connection is too narrow a bandwidth – a shipboard user will have to go through the boat’s internet [even with a VPN] which will be throttled for each casual user anyway. The only way around this [on such ships] is to bring your own satellite dish/terminal buy satellite time & bandwidth – set up camp out on one of the decks with a visible patch of suitable sky & no rain clouds. 🙂
Cruise lines are addressing this as they compete for biz & as loads of LEO sats are launched each year for just this kind of thing, but costs right now are still high: “On Disney Cruise Line ships, one MB costs 35 cents. As with per-minute pricing, buying megabytes via a package brings the price down. Pricing by the megabyte is also offered on Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean ships. As a rough guide, with 10MB [$3.50] you can spend 30 minutes on Facebook, Skype for four minutes or upload three photographs…” SOURCE
What a wonderful interview!
I especially liked Tim’s answer to the question “What was an occasion when you learned something from an animal?”
*Ach dammit — Tom not Tim.
Congratulations to mr. Parry! I remember the moth video well – it was great – well done!
PS : PCC(E) isn’t the only one annoyed by “dropped”.
Congratulations to Mr. Parry for such a good interview with Mr. Attenborough
Excellent.
🐾
I am disappointed that the video is only about 10 minutes long. I wish it were longer.
Thanks!
The interview was great!
Jesus, that was riveting.
Good interview — but rather spoiled by the unnecessary and distracting background “music” which adds nothing. Why?
Wonderful interview on both sides.(Tom reminds me a bit of Prince Harry in looks (I am not a follower of the royals…)).
An illustration of why science education benefits everyone!
What a wonderful video. I wasn’t aware of how emotional I was getting until it was over. I started to cry. I truly hope the younger generation doesn’t fall into the traps of all previous generations, including mine, and can really do something to bring the world together.