The Sumptuous Beauty of the High Tibetan Plateaus

At this year’s IDFA we were lucky enough to catch “The Velvet Queen” by Vincent Munier and Marie Amiguet, a film that was shortlisted at 2021’s Festival de Cannes. It tells the story of world-renowned wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and novelist Sylvain Tesson’s search, deep in the Tibetan highlands, for the Snow Leopard, notorious for being one of the world’s rarest animals. All to a soundtrack crafted by Warren Ellis and Nick Cave.

The film opens to two Tibetan sherpas squinting through a pair of binoculars somewhere into the distance behind us. They describe in disbelief the lengths to which their two faraway french colleagues seem to be going, the risks they are taking - will they even make it home tonight? - much to the audience’s amusement. 

But then the shot turns around and giggles turn to gasps as our soon to be guides appear as barely discernible specks in the vast, magnificent highlands that unfold before us. 

The tone was set. Many more giggles and many more gasps later, walking out into the cold night of Amsterdam felt more like stepping off the plane after an exciting, distant adventure.

Visually, “The Velvet Queen” is a masterpiece. The wild, austere backdrop of the Tibetan plateaus is breathtakingly beautiful, awash with the autumnal colours of the steppe, a white blanket of snow or the black of mountain rock. But the photography is also perfectly measured, offering ingenious moments of surprise interspersed with deeper, more abstract visual studies of a specific light or animal - notably a fantastic scene with a lone bull Yack at sunset.

But to call this film a wildlife documentary would not be doing it justice. In fact, this was our fear. When, like most, you’re familiar with the Planet Earth series and the BBC’s many iterations, you begin to wonder if you’ve seen it all. Their million-dollar photography a research is hard to beat and smaller, independent films like this one sometimes fail to deliver on the same level.

Instead, what sets “The Velvet Queen” apart is its novel narrative technique of simultaneously watching Munier’s spectacular shots and listening to his and Tesson’s ongoing conversations. From the oohs and aahs that follow their wildlife sightings, to comparing the experience with their urban alter-egos, their conversations are full of wonder and their friendship is endearing. Whereas Munier brings the calm and assurance of someone at home in the wild, Tesson is the clumsy opposite, an academic fish out of water.

As their relationship grows and the longer they search for the rare leopard, the less it seems to matter at all in comparison to their already unique experience. So much so that when they actually do spot a Snow Leopard, it comes as a true surprise.

Can you spot the Snow Leopard in this picture from the film?

The film also aspires to be a reflection on the excesses of the anthropocene, man’s neglect of the beautiful and vibrant life that surrounds him, as well as our growing propensity to be in constant  motion without ever truly taking in the environment we inhabit.

But in that respect, the film doesn’t quite live up to its ambition. Tesson reads from his diary, as he reflects on the hundreds of rushed journeys he’s taken without truly stopping to observe the nature around him. Tesson’s questions reveal Munier’s wholesome approach to life, in turn leading us to consider our relationship with the living world. But none of these subjects are sufficiently explored.

Overall, “The Velvet Queen” makes for a fantastic cinematic experience. It captures with stunning grace the untouched beauty of Tibet with brilliant photography, delivering it with a novel narrative technique and a surprisingly easy humour that held the audience enraptured throughout.

The film is currently out in cinemas in France and the US and will be out in german, dutch and swedish cinemas in 2022. In the meantime, be sure to check the Just Watch page for its streaming availability in your area.