The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos

Yet another film displaying some of the earth’s stunning natural beauty while simultaneously highlighting a threat of extinction, The Crimson Wing focuses on East Africa’s pink flamingos in Disney’s first theatrical nature documentary in nearly half a century.

This fascinating film shows the vast flocks of pink flamingos that breed on the isolated shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania. Visually stunning from the outset as the shocking pink birds clash with the clear blue sky, it dissects the rare birds from the origin of their colour to mating season to a bigger and meaner breed whose hunger for newborn chicks causes a mass exodus.

The aim is obvious, as attention desperately needs to be paid to the flamingos’ plight. And even though narrator Mariella Frostrup’s dulcet tones can bring on the sandman, it does show that pink flamingos don’t just come in oversized cocktail glasses.

Limara Salt