“The Velvet Queen” is for animal-lovers, nature-lovers and anyone who enjoys looking at beautiful things. The 2021 Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival follows a pair of Frenchmen, one a wildlife photographer and the other a traveling writer, across the Tibetan Plateau as they seek to photograph the elusive snow leopard.
While this may sound like a David Attenborough film, it’s actually far from it. “The Velvet Queen” is far more interested in artistically highlighting the beauty that can be learned from observing the wild than focusing on the scientific activities of animals. Much of the film centers around “the blind” — a method of wildlife photography that Vincent Munier, the professional photographer, lives by. It essentially consists of finding a well-concealed spot in the terrain and then waiting for several hours until some animals come by to be photographed. The process requires a great deal of patience and vigilant observation. Depending on the person, it can be interpreted as either meditative or miserable.
But regardless of your personal feelings towards it, following “the blind” really does work. The shots in this film are absolutely gorgeous. They capture a magical quietness and tranquility that you’d never encounter in day-to-day life. Even the landscape shots are breathtaking to behold. This magnificent filmmaking is what makes “The Velvet Queen” authentically unique, and the aesthetic beauty of the film will undoubtedly amaze everyone — animal lover or not.
As we get a glimpse through Munier’s camera, the audience also finds the opportunity to see the wild through his eyes. Sylvain Tesson, Munier’s writer companion, provides short narrations throughout the film, describing his experience of their trek into the Tibetan Plateau. Tesson is particularly intrigued by Munier’s wild-centered worldview, and his admiration is very much conveyed throughout “The Velvet Queen.” Munier views the wild as the original way in which the world was meant to work and modern society as a grave departure from our pure, wild existence. The photographer grieves the disconnect between mankind and nature, lamenting the ways that humans have “forfeited their liberty, autonomy and perfect knowledge of their environment.”
To be quite frank, I found Munier’s extreme perspective a little exasperating. What good is it to bash on civilization — and by extension the very people watching your film in the first place? It’s not like we all have the means or the talent to make a living off of animal photography. The fact that Munier is making a film for the very “puppet show of humanity” he so despises betrays his inability to fully live out his convictions. While he would have us all revert to our caveman origins, it’s simply not practical or helpful to suggest it.
Nonetheless, the extremity of Munier’s position doesn’t totally negate the merit in hearing it. While we may not be able to physically trek into the wilderness, his worldview highlights the importance of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the rat race of life. This necessity is already acknowledged in the increasingly popular notions of self-care (picture a relaxing skin care routine in a candle-lit, tea tree-infused bathroom), but Munier provides an intriguing alternative. Instead of manufacturing a quiet space inside our busy lives, he suggests that we look outward into the world around us and find solace in the simple tranquility of nature’s remarkable creatures and gorgeous landscapes. In pursuit of “the blind,” Munier reclaims patience as a supreme virtue and our attention — the currency of the digital age — as a priceless gift that ought to be reserved for that which is worthy of it.
“The Velvet Queen” provides an earnest perspective on the relationship between humankind and the natural world, as well as a window into Munier’s countercultural values. It reminds us of the delightful beauty that can be found in the wild and gives us an opportunity to appreciate it through the eyes (and the lens) of someone who is completely in love with nature. For the vast majority of us who aren’t naturally inclined to venture out in the wilderness, “The Velvet Queen” is a lovely gem.
Daily Arts Writer Pauline Kim can be reached at kpauline@umich.edu.