Haulout (2022) User Reviews

One of the most fascinating things you'll ever see!

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 19 February 2023]

I'd never heard the term 'haulout' before. When this film opens, we see a lone marine biologist in the wide expanse of the Siberian Arctic. We don't know what he's studying because all the land around him appears barren and lifeless. He retreats to his cabin shack for rest and food, and it seems like a futile existence. (Obviously he can't be alone because someone has to be there to film him). Then, all of a sudden, he opens the door to his shack, and he's completely surrounded by a huge population of walruses. And when I say huge, the documentary states that its ninety five thousand, with another six thousand, give or take still in the ocean nearby. A haulout then, is when walrus, along with seals and others of like kind, migrate to land for the purpose of food, rest and birthing. It's an immensely tremendous sight to behold, an aerial view offers the sight of what has to be acres and acres of walruses, compact to such a degree that they're practically sitting on top of and suffocating each other. The pups especially looked vulnerable to getting crushed. And with their razor sharp tusks, it wouldn't be wrong to say that a fair number of them wind up goring each other, either accidentally or on purpose depending on their disposition, as they did appear to be fairly aggressive. All of which is to suggest that the idea of climate change may not be the only factor involved in the deaths of walruses observed when the haulout returned to the open sea. These factors aren't mentioned, but it looked pretty obvious to this viewer.

This film is a contender for a 2023 Oscar in the category of Best Short Documentaries. I was lucky enough to catch this film along with the four other contenders for this year's Academy Award at the Paramount Theater in Middletown, New York. If not for this limited showing, I don't know how else I would have been able to see it. So, Congratulations to the Paramount for making it available to enthusiastic cinema fans like me.

that first morning shot!

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 3 March 2023]

Greetings again from the darkness. For the first few minutes, we aren't sure what we are watching. Maxim is huddled in a rustic cabin on the shore of the Russian Arctic. He eats canned good (from the can), boils his water, and recycles his cigarettes. One morning he awakens to the grunting and groaning noises occurring outside. What follows is a stunning and spectacular shot of tens of thousands of walruses huddled on the beach by his hut.

It turns out Maxim is a Marine Biologist, and he spends 43 days observing this annual ritual of walruses as part of a 10 year study. Although the walruses show up every year, the effects of climate change are obvious. There is no longer ice for them to rest on during the trek. This exhausts the creatures, causing the death toll to increase each year. Co-directors (and brother and sister) Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva deliver a beautiful (considering the harsh conditions) 25-minute film, and a stark reminder of how animals are being forced to adapt to the changes.

An interesting view of climate change

[UniqueParticle · 8/10 · 18 February 2023]

Something I've been skeptical about for awhile and makes sense is weather complications potential cause of it. The excessive amount of Walruses shown in this is quite epic! Haulout is a short focused on one man waiting for something that happens once a year; which is a whopping 95 thousand walruses surrounding a hut and im pretty sure because of a several day time flow near the ocean. This is a unique 25 minute short that is nominated for an Oscar that is lovable and sad! Interesting foods the man eats and how he's able to sleep with all the chaos around him. Heartbreaking, realistic and beautiful!

Haulout

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 22 March 2024]

In Chukota on the Siberian Arctic sea, a rusted old wreck sits abandoned on the beach. Nearby, we meet a lone scientist who has come to this remote location amidst the dense September fog to witness a natural phenomenon. Fortunately, he has the shelter of a wooden shack - for he must wait longer and look at books that depict what has gone on here in years gone by. He forages for fuel to keep out the encroaching chill on the wind. Still no sign. Then he is awoken from his sleep by a sound. The noise of an whole herd of walruses that have come to call. Well to breed on the beach actually - and they are crowding around his little hut twenty-deep. Their huge mass could reduce it to rubble in moments - but it's as if it's their beacon and they appear quite timid towards him... He heads to the roof and observes as they get on with their true purpose in being here - a bit of rutting, some showing off and some breeding! It's October and he reckons there are about 95,000 of them! He is essentially trapped inside so is reduced to scavenging old dog-ends to try and make a cigarette, and luckily they don't seem able to smell his tinned fish. What is increasingly worrying though is that here's no ice. Not a sign. Not even a snowflake. They need that to rest and feed. Without it, they cram onto the sand. Then, after forty-odd days, as if as to a call-to-arms, they start to head back to the open water and are mostly gone, save for what he estimates to be some 600 corpses left as pickings for the birds. It's now that his investigations begin in earnest. What led to their deaths? Malnutrition, exhaustion, over-crowding? Is this symptomatic of climate change affecting their food stocks and/or the water temperature? There's no narration, just the powerful photography to leave us asking our own questions about the sustainability of this ancient migratory procession.

Devastatingly reveals the impacts of climate change

[cashpetersson-1 · 10/10 · 18 November 2022]

Beautifully, quietly shot with a fully immersive soundscape that draws you in from frame one. From there, the film slowly unveils sights and sounds that will haunt your memory - and your conscious - long after its 25 minutes are over, demanding what we as a species are going to do about the mess we've made of the planet.

Even without a note of music, the film achieves a dream-like quality and there are scenes that sear themselves into your retinas and shake you to your core. No spoilers but I am holding fast to "dream-like" over "nightmare-inducing," as the film is not just an indictment of our inaction addressing the man-made climate crisis but a rallying cry to do so before it is too late.

Unbelievable! Thank you!

[bartermailmail · 10/10 · 8 February 2023]

I am an ordinary Russian guy from the outback. Of course, we studied walruses and the rest of the fauna of our vast homeland in biology lessons, but how realistic, in detail, this picture conveys the atmosphere of presence, it's just incredible! This movie should be shown in schools! Still, in most zoos, walruses are quite rare guests and not everyone can see them live. Although they are caught for dolphinariums and oceanariums. It turns out they're cute, thick-skinned, agile in the water, and probably unfortunate creatures in their natural habitat. The moment with a baby next to a dead mother is beyond words... For us, the Apocalypse is a nuclear war, a volcano explosion, a meteorite fall. And for walruses, these are just melted ice, perhaps a smaller number of fish in their habitats. Recently, Turkey, Syria and neighboring states experienced one of the worst earthquakes in the last 100 years. A huge number of dead, incredible destruction, negative consequences for many years to come. Apparently, walruses experience the same thing when, for unknown reasons, their usual habitat disappears. Industrialization is certainly a boon for humanity, but we should not forget about the balance laid down in nature before our appearance. Very educational and important movie! Thank you!

Great documentary that shows impact of climate change

[derekprice1974 · 10/10 · 14 February 2023]

I watched this movie courtesy of The New Yorker's website as I began my prepping for Oscars 2023 telecast. The basic description alluded to the topic I was to watch, but the overall film is very impactful. Having seen the movie "Arctic Tale" many times, narrated by Queen Latifah, I was aware of walrus migration and their need for sea ice. This documentary, which is almost in a movie format, shows the impact of less/no sea ice for the walrus' to rest on as they approach land where they may feed, mate, and rest. The sheer enormity of the walrus gathering is something I've never seen even in a National Geographic film. I applaud the filmmakers for documenting this phenomena and the impact climate change is effecting. Also, side note, for a documentary short subject feature, I found that the sound/audio quality was very well done by the sound engineers.

More of a surreal movie than an actual documentary

[mickeythechamp · 5/10 · 9 February 2023]

Road to the Oscars 2023. This documentary is nominated for 1 award and it´s best documentary short. Haulout is weird to rank and talk about. It´s more of a surreal experience than a documentary and it feels more like a film filmed for fiction than fact. It´s a very visually stringing doc though and instead of saying a lot of things it instead just wants you to see them.

In a remote hut, a man sits and waits for an event that only happens once a year. He records the event and later must conclude that things are changing here on earth.

This is a really visually striking documentary. It´s not really filmed in a traditionally documentary way and it creates these beautiful and surreal images. This is both a good and bad thing. At times it can feel like you're not really watching a documentary but more of a surreal horror movie or something like that. I liked the style, but I don´t know if I liked it for the documentary genre. But some of the images captured are beautiful and most have been a trip to experience.

As mentioned, the style and tone are less documentary and more surreal absurd comedy and horror. It´s interesting to have a doc in this style but it really clashes with my film mind. It´s telling me what I´m looking at is not real and that should not be the case when it´s supposed to show reality. There are so many cute and fun scenes, but also weird and dragged out that makes it seem a bit scary in tone at times. '

When the moment comes, and the doc really starts it hits you. It has this abrupt beginning of the event, and it just wants to show you what´s going on. No comments or text, just images.

There is a lot of wasted time here. We see a lot of the biologist just sitting, doing nothing, and it can feel like the doc, once again is taking it´s beautiful imagery and making a movie more than a documentary. If this had been longer than it was, I would have liked it far less. It´s only because of it´s short runtime it can get away with what it did.

This doc is a different way to talk about issues. Normally when you make a doc of this nature, you wud have foreboding music, giant graphs of danger. Voiceover and text that really tells you "Danger here is a problem" but this doc is honest and just says "here, look at this". It´s a more honest approach but I would say not as impactful.

I place this documentary in the middle of the rating spectrum. I might rank it higher or lower in the future but I´m very torn about it. I liked it´s approach and style but hated it was a doc. It really undermines what it wants to say by being too filmic and it can feel like nothing is really said.

Oscar predictions: I could see this go and win. It´s a political statement from the academy and the more filmic approached might speak to some voters. Now the creator is Russian so that might affect the voting with a most likely, anti-Russian discourse at this years event, but I have no idea if it will affect anything. So far, I would rather have the Elephant Whisperers winning, but I see them as on par. I hope a better short documentary will blow me more away than the 2 I have seen so far.