If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, a complex and fascinating take on domestic terrorism and the US’ relationship with the environment

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, B+

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is the name of an organization that sabotages different operations that supposedly exploit or harm the environment. If a Tree Falls is an objective journalistic effort from Marshall Curry that examines the scintillating moral dilemmas that result. One among many questions it asks is whether or not the Earth Liberation Front members are domestic terrorists. The film focuses on ELF member Daniel McGowan, who grew up a normal suburban teen; he began his life of environmental activism after having his eyes opened to the atrocities man commits on its environment and fellow animals.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Misses the mark, albeit beautifully

By Eliza Rosenberry


Not everyone wants to watch German director Werner Herzog's movies.  They can be a little frustrating and too much for even the most philosophical of viewers.  If you've even heard of him, it's probably because of his crazy antics (example one, example two) and not for his directorial skills.  His best-known film in recent years is probably Grizzly Man, but my favorite is Encounters at the End of the World.  Herzog attempts to find humanity in the unlikeliest of circumstances, a goal at which he often remarkably succeeds.  Once you adapt to the thickly-accented, poetically-motivated narration, his documentaries are probably the best artistic efforts to capture and explore extremes of human existence in recent years.

That said, Cave of Forgotten Dreams was pretty disappointing despite being a documentary  filmed and shown in 3D.  Particularly in the context of his other documentaries, in which narration compliments visual and sometimes falls silent to allow footage to speak for itself, Herzog's newest venture seems contrived and limited.  The film is about the breathtaking French Chauvet cave with the oldest cave paintings (oldest artistic achievements of any kind, the film is quick to note) yet discovered.  Herzog does his usual interviews with involved persons, from the scientists who research the physical nature of the cave to the artistic historians who analyze the paintings themselves.  The film uses 3D to its advantage, certainly; it often allows the viewer to feel as confined and claustrophobic as the cave itself.  Spatiality is developed in Cave of Forgotten Dreams like nothing I've ever seen.

But to be perfectly frank, it seems as though the film crew got funding and access to these severely-restricted caves and showed up on Day One of filming only to discover that they had practically nothing to work with.  Through arguably little fault of his own, Herzog fails to uncover the fascinating characters and personal histories which make his other films so rich.  The cave itself is certainly beautiful and breathtaking, but with such limited access and content (you can only look at so many rock formations before they begin to look the same) the film gets antsy.  Herzog randomly inserts a scene from another cave, elsewhere in Europe, and a boring interview with a man wearing caveman-style garb talking about this unrelated cave.  Although I understand the film's efforts to compliment its limited subject matter, and extend the length of the film itself, this interview only drew attention to the insufficiency of the film's content.

Even though Herzog's heart is in the right place and his filmmaking is admirable and motivated, Cave of Forgotten Dreams falls significantly short of being the astounding, game-changing 3D documentary it was purported to be.


Cave of Forgotten Dreams, C


Get in touch with Eliza via Twitter: @elizarosenberry or email: bostonianonfilm@gmail.com

How to Die in Oregon: A poignant documentary about life and death

How to Die in Oregon, A

Synopsis, as written by the Sundance Film Festival 2011 guide:

From its opening scene…it becomes shockingly clear that How to Die in Oregon is a special film. In 1994, Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. As a result, any individual whom two physicians diagnose as having less than six months to live can lawfully request a fatal dose of barbiturate to end his or her life. Since 1994, more than 500 Oregonians have taken their mortality into their own hands.
In How to Die in Oregon, filmmaker Peter Richardson…gently enters the lives of the terminally ill as they consider whether—and when—to end their lives by lethal overdose. Richardson examines both sides of this complex, emotionally charged issue. What emerges is a life-affirming, staggeringly powerful portrait of what it means to die with dignity.

How to Die in Oregon examines the Death with Dignity Act, a law that allows people who are medically declared six months from death the ability to have physician-assisted suicide. The law intends to allow patients to retain control of their lives, instead of fading away painfully and becoming nothing but a burden to those around them.

 

The film focuses on 54-year-old woman Cody Curtis, who is told she has only a few months to live as a result of liver cancer. The film seamlessly weaves all the smaller stories into Curtis’. While each story is both fascinating and heartbreaking, none captivate like Curtis’. Director Peter Richardson certainly recognized this, as he proves himself to be an expert documentarian.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, an intriguing piece on product placement

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, B

The synopsis as provided by Sony Classics is:

Boundary-pushing Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock explores the world of product placement, marketing and advertising in POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a film that was fully financed through product placement from various brands, all of which are integrated transparently into the film…

With humor and insight, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold unmasks the marketing process to bring audiences behind closed doors directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations which ultimately inform our everyday entertainment decisions. 

This film is being defined by critics as a shallow documentary by a man who’s more of an arrogant comedian than a documentarian (Ethan Gilsdorf of the Boston Globe said “much like reality TV, nothing much of consequence happens” and Brent Simon from Shared Darkness said “it never really digs into its subject matter in a deep or interesting enough way”). I couldn’t find this to be farther from the truth. Like many of the commercial products depicted, the film itself is being falsely branded!