Gunda: a wordless 90-minute animal movie of mind-blowing ordinariness – and a work of genius

Gunda was shortlisted for the Oscars but would never have made the final cut.

An outfit like the Academy Awards can’t recognise the brilliance of this filmI have ventured to the cinema twice to see Godzilla vs Kong; on the second occasion I even attended a venue where the sound is synchronised to the seats, so my butt vibrated in accordance with on-screen action.

But it was another production about fantastic creatures that truly reminded me of the magic of the movies; the cinema’s ability to transport us away from the fury and drudgery of human existence – to somewhere different, somewhere special, somewhere else.I am referring to Russian director Victor Kossakovsky’s frankly amazing new documentary Gunda, the best movie to arrive in cinemas since at least the start of the pandemic.

Executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix, this entirely wordless 93-minute film follows the daily existence

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