Petropolis; A Review

This film is beautifully shot and the utter destruction displayed on screen is compelling.  The sheer size of the tar sands project amazes me, as much as the ignorance and destruction of those responsible for it infuriates me.  A tailings pond, at 3 KM across more appropriately described as a tailings lake, mesmerizes with its beauty.  What looks like a close up of fine Italian marble is actually a very wide and distant shot of toxic chemicals, left to sit and settle while it leaches into the surrounding groundwater and land, polluting and killing.          

The problem I found, along with other viewers (as I discovered during the Q & A) is that so much of what you see has no real context to it. There are just the visual images accompanied by the sometimes haunting and almost always irritating industrial soundtrack.  During the first few minutes of the movie we are provided with a bit of on screen text giving us some facts and figures, but for the bulk of the film there is nothing until a sudden voiceover near the end, which I found quite jarring.

It is difficult to imagine the sheer size of some of what is presented. The speaker afterward said the vision for the film was for something less 'preachy' than traditional Greenpeace messages, which tend to rhyme off facts and figures and that sort of thing.  She said that it was meant to be artistic and visually beautiful and not just a 'talking head' type of movie.  Although if you don't know that, you find yourself with many technical questions about the film.  The website does have more interviews, fact and figures, and I hope you will take a look at it. Hopefully the additional materials and interviews will make it to the DVD, which is coming out soon from Mongrel Media.

If you'd like more information on Greenpeace Canada, please visit their website.

Take action against the tar sands project!

Petropolis; Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands

Shot primarily from a helicopter, filmmaker Peter Mettler's "Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands" offers an unparalleled view of the world's largest industrial, capital and energy project.

Canada's tar sands are an oil reserve the size of England. Extracting the crude oil called bitumen from underneath unspoiled wilderness requires a massive industrialized effort with far-reaching impacts on the land, air, water, and climate.

It's an extraordinary spectacle, whose scope can only be understood from far above. In a hypnotic flight of image and sound, one machine's perspective upon the choreography of others, suggests a dehumanized world where petroleum's power is supreme.

We are going to see this film tonight. Should be interesting. I'll definitely let you know my thoughts. I'm hoping to be able to host a screening for Green Party members at a future date.  You can view the trailer for the film here.


Petropolis is to be screened at the Royal, Toronto (608 College St.) for 6 days, starting Friday 22nd January and running until Wednesday 27th January!
Not only will you have the chance to see the film on the big screen, there will be Q+A sessions with a host of great speakers each night - including writer/director Peter Mettler and Greenpeace Canada’s Executive Director Bruce Cox.
If you didn’t get to see Petropolis at TIFF in 2009, don’t miss out this time. Tickets go on sale at the Royal half an hour before each performance (7pm each night with an extra 4:30pm screening on Sunday) so arrive early! Tickets cost $10 (general admission) $8 (students+seniors)