(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
The best scene in Before the flood is when Indian environmental activist Sunita Narain surprises Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio is both the film's commentator and producer, and has just shown appalling pictures of Indians shoveling coal from a mine in a coal mine, describing how a large number of Indians depend on coal as a source of polluting energy. "But if it was so easy to switch to solar – why didn't the US do that?" Narain asks. Until that, DiCaprio shrugs and humbly nods.
Unlike DiCaprio, Narain is a genuine commodity. She is a grassroots activist who is reliable and credible because she has a nuanced and balanced understanding of the dilemmas associated with the fight against climate change. (By the way, check out her blog: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/blogger/sunita-narain-3.) Nor is she afraid to confront an interviewer, although he happens to be a world-renowned Hollywood actor.
Before the flood bristling with Oscar winner DiCaprio as the star of the movie, but for me, DiCaprio is more of a burden than a resource. He is not credible as an interviewer / journalist / commentator, and the way he exploits celebrity status to gain access to the interview objects and attract viewers, shows a Latvian attitude to the documentary film profession. No matter how handsome and handsome DiCaprio is – he cannot replace ordinary people with real life stories about how they are affected by climate change, or inspirational stories told by innovative people.
A little challenging. What the film offers is a kind of travel around the world where DiCaprio's gaze observes – often from a plane high up – a large amount of climate change industry activity, which in turn threatens the future of the Earth. DiCaprio shows us rainforests and habitats for orangutans and tigers in Indonesia that are destroyed for the benefit of palm oil plantations that supply raw materials for the production of finished food; islands in the South Pacific and residential areas in Florida that are in danger of being washed away; oil sands projects in northern Alberta that constitute Canada's most important source of global warming; glaciers disappearing in Greenland, and the CO2 effect of meat production.
In addition to these images – all filmed in accordance with National Geographics' strict requirements for quality and accompanied by melodramatic music à la Hollywood – we get scenes in which DiCaprio works with world leaders and interviews experts such as polar climatologist Jason Box, mathematician Gidon Eshel and National Geography's own Enric Sala .
DiCaprio does not challenge the statements of any of the interviewees. He just looks at them and responds with banal expressions such as: “Really? It's interesting… Amazing. ” It appears to be mildly ironic and quite revealing that early in the film he mentions that he is an actor "who earns a living by pretending".
Own rationalizations. As DiCaprio makes no attempt to come up with the other side of the case, it is difficult to accept information presented as if it were an evangelical truth. When DiCaprio actually refers to people who might disagree with him, he does so in a superficial way without giving them the opportunity to argue their views. He simply shows brief snippets from Fox News of politicians he claims are in the pockets of companies like Shell and Exxon. This may be true, but why is DiCaprio afraid to face them? How about letting the spectator decide for himself?
No matter how handsome and handsome DiCaprio is – he cannot replace ordinary people with real life stories about how they are affected by climate change.
As Sunita Narain suggests, there are some real dilemmas here. Do we really expect people in countries like India, with coal as their only available source of energy, to wait until they get solar and wind power technology installed in their village?
The answer, of course, is never that complicated, and DiCaprio should know it from his own lifestyle. He does not mention in the film that he has been attacked for his frequent use of private jets; the press has written about how he used private jets six times during a six-week period.
Environmental analyst Robert Rapier said, according to The Telegraph, that DiCaprio's lifestyle "reduces his authority to preach to others about reducing their CO2 emissions." And Rapier continued: “He shows exactly why our fossil fuel consumption continues to increase. That's because everyone likes the combination of price and convenience it offers. The alternatives usually require some form of sacrifice. " He also said that DiCaprio's hectic everyday life is no excuse. “Everyone says 'I have good reasons to consume what I consume'. Exactly the same rationalization applies to billions of people. ”
Overrated celebrity power. Before the flood presents a solid set of reasons to support activities that protect the environment. For people who are unfamiliar with the subject, there is a lot of useful information to bring here. But for those of us who are already convinced that something is needed, there is not much new or something that can help us in our individual or collective struggle. And for those who don't think climate change is an urgent and life-threatening problem, it hardly makes any difference that Leonardo DiCaprio says they are.
The use of celebrities is something documentary filmmakers should be cautious about relying on. Finding a compelling way to tell a story is far more important than finding a famous person to tell the story.
We have seen the limits of celebrity power in other contexts as well: A host of American celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio himself, publicly stood for Hillary Clinton. The result speaks for itself.
Before the Flood can be seen on Netflix.
