From director Davis Guggenheim, “An Inconvenient Truth” is a passionate and inspirational look at former Vice President Al Gore's crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. In this intimate portrait of Gore and his "travelling global warming show," Gore comes across as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and intent on alerting citizens to this "planetary emergency" before it's too late.Interspersed with the bracing facts and future predictions is the story of Gore's personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective; to the man who almost became President but instead returned to the most important cause of his life.
But as I said, the movie is not about Mr. Gore. He is, rather, the surprisingly engaging vehicle for some very disturbing information. His explanations of complex environmental phenomena ,the jet stream has always been a particularly tough one for me to grasp are clear, and while some of the visual aids are a little corny, most of the images are stark, illuminating and powerful.
I can't think of another movie in which the display of a graph elicited gasps of horror, but when the red lines showing the increasing rates of carbon-dioxide emissions and the corresponding rise in temperatures come on screen, the effect is jolting and chilling. Photographs of receding ice fields and glaciers — consequences of climate change that have already taken place are as disturbing as speculative maps of submerged coastlines. The news of increased hurricane activity and warming oceans is all the more alarming for being delivered in Mr. Gore's matter-of-fact, scholarly tone.
He speaks of the need to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions as a "moral imperative," and most people who see this movie will do so out of a sense of duty, which seems to me entirely appropriate. Luckily, it happens to be a well-made documentary, edited crisply enough to keep it from feeling like 90 minutes of C-Span and shaped to give Mr. Gore's argument a real sense of drama. As unsettling as it can be, it is also intellectually exhilarating, and, like any good piece of pedagogy, whets the appetite for further study. This is not everything you need to know about global warming: that's the point. But it is a good place to start, and to continue, a process of education that could hardly be more urgent.
After having its U.S. debut at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and international premiere at Cannes, it also became a global phenomenon, one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time with a worldwide audience estimated at 5 million people. "An Inconvenient Truth" is a necessary film. With an emphasis on hope, An Inconvenient Truth ultimately shows us that global warming is no longer a political issue but rather, the biggest moral challenge facing our civilization today.
But as I said, the movie is not about Mr. Gore. He is, rather, the surprisingly engaging vehicle for some very disturbing information. His explanations of complex environmental phenomena ,the jet stream has always been a particularly tough one for me to grasp are clear, and while some of the visual aids are a little corny, most of the images are stark, illuminating and powerful.
I can't think of another movie in which the display of a graph elicited gasps of horror, but when the red lines showing the increasing rates of carbon-dioxide emissions and the corresponding rise in temperatures come on screen, the effect is jolting and chilling. Photographs of receding ice fields and glaciers — consequences of climate change that have already taken place are as disturbing as speculative maps of submerged coastlines. The news of increased hurricane activity and warming oceans is all the more alarming for being delivered in Mr. Gore's matter-of-fact, scholarly tone.
He speaks of the need to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions as a "moral imperative," and most people who see this movie will do so out of a sense of duty, which seems to me entirely appropriate. Luckily, it happens to be a well-made documentary, edited crisply enough to keep it from feeling like 90 minutes of C-Span and shaped to give Mr. Gore's argument a real sense of drama. As unsettling as it can be, it is also intellectually exhilarating, and, like any good piece of pedagogy, whets the appetite for further study. This is not everything you need to know about global warming: that's the point. But it is a good place to start, and to continue, a process of education that could hardly be more urgent.
After having its U.S. debut at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and international premiere at Cannes, it also became a global phenomenon, one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time with a worldwide audience estimated at 5 million people. "An Inconvenient Truth" is a necessary film. With an emphasis on hope, An Inconvenient Truth ultimately shows us that global warming is no longer a political issue but rather, the biggest moral challenge facing our civilization today.
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