Review of Promised Land

Promised Land (2012)
6/10
The wind turbine industry plays similar games
22 August 2013
As someone who's always been concerned about human impact on nature and the lies people tell for money, I had to see this film. Fracking is only "safe" in ideal circumstances and the real world is rarely ideal. The physical land impact alone should give people pause. Areas are being developed that people had expected to remain bucolic.

I found it quite watchable, though short on scientific substance, as I was hoping would be covered by the Holbrook character. They should have at least shown a cutaway diagram of the underground process. It's unclear why they kept it down to a few livestock photos and anecdotes, but I guess the point was clear for people who already understand the issues (maybe they assumed that of the audience).

The fast turnaround of the townspeople seemed a bit unrealistic but I let it pass. They could have gone more into their psychology. The ending, however, was cleverly done and I won't give it away here.

It's also worth noting that giant "green" wind turbines are having many negative effects on rural landscapes & soundscapes. This movie was originally going to be about wind power (per comments by John Krasinski) but Hollywood probably kill-filed that idea to protect its pseudo-green image. Maybe there will be a sequel on turbine blight?

Someone should make a popular film that deals with the total impact of growth-based economies on nature instead of covering specific issues in isolation.
3 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed