Educational Media Reviews Online

The documentary Revolution is a meandering, visually beautiful film on the current state of the damage we are doing to the environment. It begins with the filmmaker’s amateur attempt to bring attention to the plight of the sharks and the shark fin industry, which is excellent and inspiring. He lets the audience see that he has more heart than skills with his outtakes and rambling but earnest eco-talk. In hosting a talk after one the showings of his Sharkwater film (2006) he gets his consciousness raised by a question of the larger picture on reef degradation and ocean acidification. The film then segues into the health of the ocean as shown though dying reefs in Papua, New Guinea. A world expert on reefs gives a sobering doomsday scenario on what the loss of the reefs will mean and finally the real point of the film, humans killing the oceans through industrial greed.

The film next moves to Canada where oil is being extracted from the tar sands, accounting for 40% of Canadian oil, a fact not shown in the film. The evils of extracting oil from the sands is basically equated with raping the earth, and in a breathless tone he tells us corporations are doing this and “half of all companies are…..corporations”. Leftist organization Energy Action Coalition, a member of Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection and funded by the George Soros Open Society Institute, is interviewed, as are political activist Van Jones and a founding member of Earth First, an even more radical group. An openly progressive, anti-capitalistic tone is heard throughout the film, with about 15 seconds of total feeble countering arguments from two industry representatives. No mention is given to the largest eco-offender, China, nor any solutions for providing energy, just that fossil fuels are bad, period.

He moves to Madagascar next which seems to have an unrelated problem that the film eventually reveals as simple overpopulation. Too many people cutting down the forests. He weaves interviews of prominent local ecologists with film of the affected animals.

The last part of the film concerns youth groups at a world environmental conference and their unsuccessful efforts to influence a green solution. Just when you think you are done he adds a coda to the film—a group of sixth graders in Saipan, inspired by his first film, who actually got shark finning banned in their country. He muses then that it may not be government or industry but us who changes the world.

Without a doubt this is a visually beautiful film. The music is varied and appropriate for setting the mood of the moment.

In spite of its progressive bias, this is an inspiring, graphically excellent film that is appropriate for children through adult.

Awards

• Winner,Vancouver international Film Festival
• Santa Barbara International Film Festival
• Atlantic Film Festival