11th Hour not too late for Earth, says DiCaprio

Thursday, 30 August 2007

Leonardo DiCaprio is all grown up, and the former teen heartthrob is out to prove it. He’s produced and narrated 11th Hour, a gripping documentary about humanity’s impact on the environment and the dangers that our species could face if we don’t stop abusing the Earth. The message is urgent and clear: if we don’t change the way we live, the climate will alter so drastically that our species will become extinct.

The film interviews more than fifty prominent experts and activists—scientists, cultural/media critics, and writers—who, one by one, map out the climate change problem. Some identify causes of global warming, while others examine the extreme effects that climate change has had on weather patterns; a few even predict the inevitable outcome of letting current trends continue unchecked. 11th Hour also deviates from ecological discussions and examines the role that American culture, politics and economics play in perpetrating this problem.

This well-rounded portrayal of the planet’s pollution problem works very well. Furthermore, the movie’s editing is spectacular, melding fifty-plus interviews into a cohesive and interesting story while allowing each expert’s individual personality and views to shine through. DiCaprio’s subtle narrative segments tie together the thematic elements of the movie, without overshadowing the voices of the experts or drawing too much attention to himself.

It’s easy to wag a finger at the current U.S. administration and multinational oil companies and blame them as the the ones who hasten environmental decline, and 11th Hour certainly does that. But here it’s done with a subtler approach than similar enviro-documentaries. The film doesn’t just blame the big corporate faces; it also reminds us that we, as individuals, are also responsible for the present state of the planet.

The entire movie isn’t all gloom and doom, however. The best part of 11th Hour is the second half when, after scaring us into thinking that the world is facing imminent disaster, the experts begin to calmly discuss practical actions individuals and societies can perform to lessen our impact on the environment. Most of these changes are quite realistic, obtainable, and in many cases, quite creative. The experts even provide some astounding visual depictions of different sustainable technologies to show how they would work. The message of change comes very directly, but without patronizing the viewers or shaming them into action.

This latter part of 11th Hour also moves at a slightly faster pace than the first half—there, some of the commentary becomes redundant. The second part of this film has a much fresher feel to it, offering previously unexplored angles and solutions to this worldwide problem.

Some people might wonder how a movie about environmental destruction could actually be a film about hope for the future, but 11th Hour pulls it off very nicely—not bad, coming from the star of Titanic.

-->