Director Baichwal shows us the work of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky who's big, detailed images are an excellent example of the artist finding beauty in what others see as uglyness and squaller. From China's massive Three Gorges dam project to rusting ships oozing oil on the muddy sea banks of Bangladesh this is a humbling film about the impact of man on the environment. There is a large political statement here yet it is left only to the camera to relay the message. Don't miss the unusual opening sequence, though tedious it strongly convays the size of this new Chinese industrialization.
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal 2006, Canada, 90 mins. 8/10
9/10 I didn't know about this movie which was the winner of the PALME D'OR at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. It's a great lesson in Irish spunk. To me this movie begs the question: If we are to achieve greatness as a country, do we need to undergo hardship? After seeing this I can't help but view Canadians as complacent whimps by not standing up to American atrocities in the world. This movie gets the difficult messages across better than the "Michael Collins" movie of ten years ago, despite the difficulty I had with understanding much of the dialogue. I almost wished for subtitles.
Directed by Ken Loach, Ireland, 2006
Matt Damon is a busy guy. And he's perfectly cast as the central character in the "Bourne" series. This trilogy completing installment is just as good as the other two. The high pitched action is directed by Paul Greengrass who also did "Bourne Supremacy".
The nearly seamless action is beautifly shot, too. Comparison could be made to James Bond, but 007 was always fighting foreigners. Here the villain is the CIA. Conservatives will see the movie as: "there's those Hollywood liberals again making Americans out to be 'the bad guys', even if it's just "a few bad apples" . . . it's all pretty familiar stuff. Remember "Seven Days Of The Condor" had Robert Redford being hunted by the CIA because he was onto something that might threaten "the American way of life", like screwing with the world oil supply. Cliff Robertson laid it out perfectly in a rant at the end of that movie.
It is a hackneyed theme, alright. The way the movie ended it certainly looked that more "Bourne" will be coming along. But there will have to be a totally different plot-line.
Directed by Paul Greengrass, USA 2007 8/10
