The Secret Life of Plants
December. 09,1979 GA documentary about the study of plant sentience with original music by Stevie Wonder. Utilizing time-lapse photography, the film proposes that plants are able to experience emotions and communicate with the world around them.
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Reviews
Thanks for the memories!
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
I saw this movie in the mid 1980's in Berkeley. I found it at times incredibly touching, at other times uproariously funny. I left the theater convinced that plants are sentient beings who experience love, pain, and loss. My conviction and enthusiasm have waned over the years, but I still sometimes feel a twinge of guilt when I bite into a stick of celery. My son is now in fourth grade and wants to do a science experiment for school in which he tests whether or not plants that are talked to grow better than plants who are emotionally neglected. I think this film would be informative and helpful for him, but I can't find a copy anywhere. Does anyone know how I can borrow or rent a copy?
The Secret Life of Plants is a fascinating documentary featuring time lapse photography, historical film clips, and the music of Stevie Wonder. The best parts were the scientific experiments where people all over the world hooked up various plants to oscilloscopes, lie detectors, etc. to see if they feel pain, fear, etc. The film tries to prove that there is some sort of global consciousness. I don't really believe that, but am still amazed by the results of the experiments. For instance, a cabbage had a reaction when smokers blew smoke at it. In another test, an office plant hooked up to a lie detector started reacting when its owner thought of burning it.
I saw this Paramount flick quite a few times, back when I was a projectionist just out of high school at the local art movie house, (this was circa 1982). I remember it being a mixture of dry documentary stuff and wonderful musical bits. Of the docu part I remember a scene where they hook a plant up to electrodes and measure it's sensitivity while they chop a head of lettuce in front of it (the plant freaks out on the machine's readout). I also remember a cool time lapse sequence with flowers blooming while they play "Here Come's The Sun". And the bits with Stevie Wonder wondering through a field of flowers was cool (and comical, as there was nothing for him to bump into). I've searched for years for this on video but I'm sure it's held up in musical right's limbo (that and the fact that no one's ever heard of it).
I saw this movie with my wife many years ago in a small theater in Baltimore, Maryland, after hearing the great soundtrack. I have tried unsuccessfully to purchase/sees any copy of it via the producer, distributor to no avail. Other viewers/fans unite! contact me.