4 stars (out of 5)
Director: Taggert Siegel
Cast: Gunther Hauk, Michael Pollan, Vandana Shiva, Raj Patel, Carlo Petrini, Hugh Wilson
Rating: (R16)
As soon as Michael Pollan appears on screen, anyone who vaguely agrees with his stinging commentary on industrialised food will approve of Queen of the Sun. The film is a wildly evocative portrait of some of nature's integral characters, and the catastrophic threat to their future.
Produced and directed by Taggert Siegel (The Real Dirt on Farmer John), Queen of the Sun takes something as simple as the pollination process and illustrates how tampering with Earth's natural rhythms, as modern societies do, has scary ramifications for the future.
Siegel cleverly shows how important the honey-bee is to key crops, and how modern farming practices driven by commercial imperative, are actually destroyingwhat their livelihoods depend on.
Queen of the Sun is a documentary that asks quite a lot of its viewers. With scant regard for anything resembling story arc, Siegel flits around the world ignoring his carbon footprint, waving a camera in front of a wacky bunch of ageing hippies, biodynamic devotees and scientists.
The result is frequently confusing but bear with it. Siegel has been making successful alt-docs for 25 years, and knows he must address those loose threads.
One thing is for sure, after watching Queen of the Sun you are unlikely to look at bees in the same way again and that next bee sting, well, that will be cherished.
Best thing: The message. How many more films must we see to realise that the future of food as we know it is seriously screwed?
Worst thing: The balance, while it's hard to find flaws with the message, it would have been nice to hear from the other side - or at least find someone willing to try to defend monoculture.
See it with: Some lovely Central Otago clover honey spread on a crumpet.
- Mark Orton
