Not really a documentary

"The Secret Life of Plants" is a film released in 1979, based on a book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. The film isn't a "real" documentary, but a more artistic production. It features music and songs performed by Stevie Wonder, who also appears in the film himself. There are also two ballet dancers and a lot of time-lapse photographs of growing plants, with Wonder's music playing in the background. I admit that I didn't like it. This is the kind of "sophisticated", narrow and near-incomprehensible movie they love to show at certain movie festivals. Wonder's music was later released as an album, often regarded as his most unusual. I can see (or hear) why!

The documentary sections of "The Secret Life of Plants" features a short presentation of Jagadish Chandra Bose, an early 20th century Indian scientist who conducted experiments supposedly proving that plants were sentient. An interview with Cleve Backster follows. Backster believed that plants had psychic abilities, something he attempted to prove with the help of a polygraph. We get to see one of his experiments. Further, we get to watch an excerpt (or seeming excerpt) from a Soviet documentary about the "mind-reading" capabilities of plants. George Lawrence, who believes that plants can communicate with aliens (?) in the star constellation of Ursa Major, is interviewed and demonstrates his equipment, including the "alien signals" he has been receiving.

We also get to meet the Dogon, a people in Mali which supposedly have advanced astronomical knowledge about the Sirius star system. The Dogon weren't mentioned in Tompkin's and Bird's original book, so here the film-makers have attempted to capitalize on the wide-spread interest in Robert Temple's blockbuster "The Sirius Mystery"! A strange omission compared to the original book is that Findhorn isn't shown at all.

"The Secret Life of Plants" used to be a popular production. I believe it was even shown at Swedish television at some point, despite the paranormal being a no-no on public service networks. However, I can't say this film thrilled me. I would have preferred if the documentary sections had been much longer, and Stevie Wonder's annoying music dropped. But that's me. I admit that a regular documentary might not have entered the public consciousness and become a classic, as this one has.

Despite that, I will only give "The Secret Life of Plants - The Movie" two stars.