“There could be a three foot rise
in water levels in the next generation’s lifetime.” That quote really got me
thinking. Humans could potentially cause this rise in water level because of
the unforgiving use of harmful chemicals and utter disregard for nature. It’s
hard to think that what we are doing as humans is that harmful. I mean, it doesn’t
seem like anything has changed since I was born. But that’s the problem. In the
film Chasing Ice this change is
shown, not just portrayed. There are exact pictures of places where 300
vertical feet of a powerful glacier is melted away in the matter of a few
months and reduced to a mere puddle. And it is because of the sheer
irresponsibility of humans. Overall, this film got me thinking to say the
least. It is clear that it was filmed and edited to evoke an emotional
response. The portion containing his family and how they worry about whether or
not the whole project will work out is made so that you feel some sort of
connection to the photographer. In this way, I felt like the passion behind the
film seems to not be genuine. This bit involving the family takes away from the
focus of the dying glaciers and changes it to a man that may not be able to
take pictures of them. Granted, it generally focuses on the glaciers, but the
reason that a person may feel passionate about it seems to be cloaked and unreal.
All in all, I thought this was a good movie, and made you think; I just wish it
would have evoked the emotional response in a more real way other than faking
the viewer into it.
Excellent critique, Nate. Usually filmmakers rely on personal interest stories to make points. You are saying that the point could have been made more honestly without adding the human interest portion. I totally understand your point, but then I also imagine that there are some people who need that personal story in order to being to feign care themselves! Who knows. Sometimes faking it becomes real? One note: I watched the film to the end, and there's a guy who, after seeing Balog's photographs, quits his job at Shell Oil, because he says he can no longer live with himself if he stays there and doesn't do something to help stop climate change. So. Maybe the intended audience is, after all, those who don't believe climate change exists!
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