What's With These Documentaries Anyway?

I had read many reviews which intrigued me to go out and get these two documentaries, The Russian Ark and Winged Migration.

The Russian Ark simply mystified me. It was frustrating and obtuse and much longer than its running time of 90 minutes would lead you to believe. It was shot in one continuous take, and was to encompass all of Russian History within the confines of the Hermitage. Sounds great...and perhaps I am just not familiar enough with Russian history to have "gotten" it. It seemed like one long in-joke that I was not hip to, and subsequently, very frustrating.

Winged Migration was lovely, but it was also quite a powerful sleep aid.

However, both of the DVD's include feature-length documentaries about the making of these films which were fascinating and much more watchable. I suppose the draw for both of these films for me was the process by which they were made, so I suppose it makes sense that a film about making the film was more informative and engrossing than the actual unwatchable film.