Environmentalism is a bit like communism . Great idea in theory but constantly let down by its adherents . I should perhaps put my hand up to something . I was once a member of the Scottish Green Party for a couple of years but left due to 9/11 and its aftermath where the party faithful seemed to think mass murder caused by theocrats was somehow justified while the response to this atrocity by secular democratic governments was heavy handed . I hasten to add I'm referring to the NATO intervention in Afghanistan which was sanctioned by the UN and not the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq ( I'd long left the party by then ) and concluded that Quaker based environmentalism was exactly as described by George Orwell , a strange cult that is only anti-war when war is waged by democracies against tyranny . I was also a member of Greenpeace for a couple of years but was told to not bother attending any more meetings after arguing with certain members of the organization hierarchy , a hierarchy that functioned exactly like a corporate company . You can appreciate the irony and you can perhaps appreciate why I tend to be cynical against the environmental movement . They are their own worst enemies , and while I still hold environmental leanings due to scientific readings and other empirical evidence I see many environmentalists as beneath contempt
This documentary revolves around Farmer who on seeing a timber company cutting the local redwood forest decides to do something about it . You don't need a erstwhile closet hippy like myself to tell you about redwood trees . While a redwood tree was a mere sapling the Europeans were still worshipping Pagan gods like Thor and Odin . They had stood for centuries and are now being chopped down so Farmer decides if he makes a stand the timber company will stop . He does this by living on top of a tree I'm not sure if it's a good thing but there's not a lot of dialogue . I would have liked to hear more about Farmer the person and his motives but there might have been a slight danger in to turning Farmer's story in to a diatribe . As it is Farmer comes across as a likable enough chap and visuals and audio tell the story . The sound mix as Farmer sits in a tree in a plastic shelter and gets bombarded by torrential rain leading to a constant white noise as the rain splashes off the plastic gives an indication of some of the hardship endured on a principal . The fact that there's little dialogue does give you a short taste of the bitter loneliness of solitude involved in this campaign
Even though it's a documentary I should guard my back against the guidelines of IMDb and have included a spoiler tag and that is there's a happy ending to this story down to Farmer and his colleagues . So well done that chap and if I ever meet you I'll shake your hand and buy you drink . One man can make the world a better place
This documentary revolves around Farmer who on seeing a timber company cutting the local redwood forest decides to do something about it . You don't need a erstwhile closet hippy like myself to tell you about redwood trees . While a redwood tree was a mere sapling the Europeans were still worshipping Pagan gods like Thor and Odin . They had stood for centuries and are now being chopped down so Farmer decides if he makes a stand the timber company will stop . He does this by living on top of a tree I'm not sure if it's a good thing but there's not a lot of dialogue . I would have liked to hear more about Farmer the person and his motives but there might have been a slight danger in to turning Farmer's story in to a diatribe . As it is Farmer comes across as a likable enough chap and visuals and audio tell the story . The sound mix as Farmer sits in a tree in a plastic shelter and gets bombarded by torrential rain leading to a constant white noise as the rain splashes off the plastic gives an indication of some of the hardship endured on a principal . The fact that there's little dialogue does give you a short taste of the bitter loneliness of solitude involved in this campaign
Even though it's a documentary I should guard my back against the guidelines of IMDb and have included a spoiler tag and that is there's a happy ending to this story down to Farmer and his colleagues . So well done that chap and if I ever meet you I'll shake your hand and buy you drink . One man can make the world a better place
