Co-Narration in Biggest Little Farm

Recently my family gathered to watch Biggest Little Farm, a festival-favorite that attracted my garden-loving household. Whether or not you give a lick about bio-diversity, I encourage cinematic storytellers to study the documentary for several reasons.

First, check out the unusual co-narration. Written by Mark Monroe (Chasing Ice and Fantastic Fungi), the narration is delivered by two protagonists: director John Chester and his wife Molly. The decision to share the role of narrator kept Act One (where exposition is usually the heaviest in documentaries) clipping along.

It also set the stage for an unrealized relationship drama between the couple. Instead, the director/cinematographer wisely kept the focus on the animals.

“This all started with a promise we made to a dog,” says John. Note here the film’s effective inciting incident: the couple promise to keep their rescue mutt for life. After being evicted, they have to move to the country because it was too difficult (costly?) to find another rental for their barking dog in Santa Monica.

Speaking of costs, if I have one criticism of this inspiring eco-tale, it’s shared by a number of critics: Todd is mum about dollar amounts. I would have prized more transparency about how he and his investors financed what must have been staggering costs to revitalize 200 acres of dead dirt over eight years.

The omission may have contributed to what critic Ann Hornaday, writing for the Washington Post, called “a creeping sense of self-congratulation.”

That said, I adored the doc for its solution-oriented outlook.

According to director John Chester, who interviewed with IndieWire, most non-fiction films about farms or the environment are “fear-based”.

“The enemy is a human corporation or greed,” he says. “The victim is always the planet. And at the end the audience leaves feeling fear or despair or depression, their eyes are more tight, not more wide. I wanted to show … the cure.”

“It’s a forward-thinking, problem-solving heart-tugger,” adds critic Anne Thompson.

Cheers to that!