Educational Media Reviews Online

Kestrel's Eye (title on videotape reads Falkens öga) is a mesmerizing film that focuses on a family of kestrel's living in the church tower of a beautiful pastoral village southwest of Sweden. Although the viewer witnesses various animal behaviors such as hunting, mating, and nesting, this is not a zoological film about kestrels. None of these activities are given any explanation or discussion, but are witnessed in close-up while interspersed with the day to day lives of the surrounding community from a distance. While viewers have the opportunity to watch impressive visual documentation of the kestrels' world, we also see our human world through the kestrels' eyes. Mikael Kristersson weaves a visual and aural story of seasons and occasions from both worlds. We see the tending of a nest juxtaposed with the tending of a graveyard, kestrel mating rituals with a funeral, and the maturation process of kestrel hatchlings with a wedding.

Kristersson has filmed the kestrels with striking intimacy. The visual sharpness, whether showing the birds in open flight or in the privacy of their nest, is impeccable. The audio quality is equally impressive in clarity, relying upon only natural sounds which include those from the kestrels, street and ground activity, and occasional music from the church organ. While there seem to be no shortcomings to this film, it may not be of interest to everyone. Kestrel's Eye is an artistic film that not only invites, but requires the viewer to succumb to its deliberate calm and focus. The film is highly recommended for academic libraries, where it could offer research and discussion support in film studies, communication, and behavioral sciences. Public libraries would also benefit from adding this film to their collection. However, both academic and public libraries may need to take the $285 price into account when determining the program's relevance to a specific collection.