Caffeinated Clint
‘’The 11th Hour’’ kinda serves as a ‘don’t forget to remember’, a reiteration, an ‘inconvenient’ reminder of documentaries gone by, which at this late stage as the experts say, is simply not enough.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Don’t forget to remember.
If it really is the eleventh hour on the global warming issue, then the urgent need to offer applicable strategies to its viewers is upon us. But one can’t help but feel that this opportunity is being wasted. Already, I’m hearing murmurs about how people are tired of talk about the same thing: how discussion of our impending demise and the demise of the planet is becoming a bit of a yawn. This is a dangerous attitude and I can’t help but think that films like the Leo Dicaprio produced and narrated documentary 11th Hour are in some way perpetuating this problem. Water-cooler chatter has come and gone; it’s time for action. So where is the guidance?
‘’The 11th Hour’’ kinda serves as a ‘don’t forget to remember’, a reiteration, an ‘inconvenient’ reminder of documentaries gone by, which at this late stage as the experts say, is simply not enough. There are even interviewees and experts that I swear I’ve seen in documentaries of the same subject matter, saying the same thing.
For three quarters of the film we are pummelled with familiar, yet impacting images of the destruction of the globe — its rainforests, its oceans, its geological structures, its freshwater catchments.
We are presented with some new information and some new dangers that we perhaps have previously been unfamiliar with; but they simply offer more reasons for why we’re all in big trouble. Although this is important information, and a necessary aspect to begin the discussion, there is a bit of dead-horse flogging going on. And my real beef is that it made up three quarters of the film.
Some of the world’s most recognisable figures and intellects, such as David Suzuki and Stephen Hawking offer philosophical debate about human nature, and how the choices we’ve made have brought us to our current situations. As interesting and thought provoking as this is, and perhaps worth a look just to hear their views, it still falls short of being action provoking.
Perhaps the most frustrating part is that in the latter stages of the film, the issues that needed to be tackled, are tackled — and in many respects are tackled well. The film explores architectural and modern design principles that can be put into practise that will make a great difference. We are presented with new ways to utilise renewable energy sources, the need for investment in this area, buildings that are eco-friendly and self-energising. We even get a glimpse into a nightclub that powers itself through the energy taken from dancing feet on the floor.
What an exciting time we live in, we are told. This generation has a major problem, but also has the power, intelligence and resourcefulness to save and preserve the environment for future generations. So why couldn’t this then be the central focus of the documentary, rather than a method of easing the fears created in the first three-quarters with hackneyed images of destruction? I feel this documentary had the great potential to add onto the foundation that other documentaries and news reports have already created, but only did so marginally.
There are moments of clarity — images of crazed shoppers, zombie commuters — that allude to a need for people to wake up to their self-indulgent lifestyles. But unfortunately, by the documentary’s end, the individual film-goer is not able to walk away with any clear strategies. Unless they possess political or corporate sway, the film is not giving much other than a hope that someone with power and architectural nous will get the ball rolling, or keep it moving.
If you’re like me, and you don’t own an oil company or have money invested in oil, you turn your lights and TV off when you’re not using them, at the power point no less, keep your showers short, and need your car to get to work, as four hours on public transport each day is just not viable, then this film really doesn’t stress enough the things that the lay person can offer. And I find it unlikely that citizens of the West are doing everything they can to make a difference. Just another well-informed look at a massive problem.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Davin Sgargetta
