BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO (Jessica Oreck, U.S.). 90 minutes. Subtitled. Rating: NNNN
While insects make most North Americans squirm, in Japan many of the rar er species of winged and many-legged critters are collected, bought and sold as house pets. Playful beetles show up as protagonists in kids’ video games, and an entire industry’s sprung up around catching and rearing bugs.
Narrated in the soothing tones of Haruku Shinozuki, Jessica Oreck’s hypnotic, beautifully paced doc looks at Japanese culture to find philosophical and spiritual connections between man and nature. One comment about the Japanese spirit and natural disasters is especially revealing in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami.
