Movie: Record heat in the summer, flooding in the winter, ever-increasing tornadoes, and glaciers melting at an alarming rate - there really is no denying by now that our planet's climate is changing at an enormous rate. And yet, the willingness of people to do their part to stop global warming is shockingly low. Almost-US-President Al Gore has been travelling around the world for several years now to bring the uncomfortable truth closer to the people with a multimedia lecture and to show ways how a catastrophe can still be averted. But that's not all: in addition to an informative website and a book on the subject, Gore has now been joined by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim on his lecture tour, in order to inform an even wider audience about the important issue in the cinema and on DVD.
The path that Gore and Guggenheim have chosen for this is very well chosen. "An Inconvenient Truth" is educational without being too dry, is entertaining without ever losing depth of content, and also provides something that is incredibly important to this heavy topic: hope. At first, of course, Gore's lecture does not give such an impression. The facts, figures and images presented by Bill Clinton's vice-president are worrying and frustrating in equal measure. But to avoid plunging the viewer into complete depression, the most important facts about global warming are first summarized in an ironically amusing cartoon by the creators of the cult series "Futurama". In the multimedia presentation that follows, Gore proves to be not only an intelligent expert, but also a surprisingly good entertainer.
The gripping and informative lecture sequences are repeatedly interrupted by personal recordings and interviews with Al Gore, in which he explains why the future of our planet is so close to his heart. A nearly fatal car accident for his son was just as decisive as the early death from cancer of his sister. This was all the more tragic because Gore's family had been involved in tobacco farming until that moment. Gore gives a very personal insight into his life here, thus turning from a politician into a human being for the viewer and thus becoming more tangible, which increases his credibility and persuasiveness even more. Of course, this is basically blatant manipulation of the viewer, but in this case it's more than appropriate.
"An Inconvenient Truth" is a film that shouldn't just be watched. The documentary should become mandatory viewing for all school classes, companies and individuals. The whole problem cannot be conveyed more comprehensibly and comprehensively. The fact that Gore, apart from a few side blows against the Bush administration, tries to convey the topic not on a political but on a moral level was a very good decision. In the USA this documentary educational film was a respectable success with a box-office takings of over 20 million dollars and winning the Oscar for Best Documentary, but Gore will not rest on his laurels. He will continue to tour the country with his talk, which he has given well over 1000 times so far, in hopes of making a difference. You should definitely honor that commitment by purchasing this DVD.
Image and Sound:When the camera is watching Al Gore lecture or accompanying him on his travels, there is little to complain about the quality of the image. Clean, vibrant colours and sharp - a very good result for a documentary. Only in the use of archival footage can some weaknesses be discerned, but these should not be of negative weight due to the content. This also applies to the rather unspectacular sound, in which the most important aspect, that Gore's lecture can be understood well, was more than satisfactorily implemented.
Extras: Even two audio commentaries were recorded for the DVD. Commentary One is by director Guggenheim, the second by producers Lawrence Bender, Laurie David, Scott Z. Burns and Lesley Chilcott. The commentaries offer some very interesting facts about the making of the documentary, the difficulties the makers faced, and much praise of Al Gore the person. It's well worth listening to in places, but in the end it would have been enough to cut both commentaries together into one.
In addition to the commentaries, there is a short making of (about 11 mins), but this offers little new information for those who have listened to one or even both commentaries. There is also the music video for the Oscar-winning song "I need to wake up" by Melissa Etheridge, as well as a very interesting, nearly 32-minute update by Al Gore, which makes it clear that this issue is running ever wider circles and is in constant flux. Very good.
Conclusion: The discussion of climate change may already be tiresome to many, but this is a film that everyone really should have seen. Not only that the most important facts are conveyed in an understandable and condensed way, but also a way out of the misery is shown, in which everyone can participate. That alone is enough to give a buy order for this disc, but also the decent technical implementation and the good extra material justify this purchase!
Original Title: An Inconvenient Truth
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Number of discs: 1
Languages: English, German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: German, English, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
Image Format: 16:9 (1.78:1)
Extras: Audio Commentaries, Making of, Update by Al Gore, Music Video
FSK: o.A.
Length: approx. 93 min.
Regional Code: 2
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
