Gasland
- Posted: 24th Jan 2011
- Category: Reviews
By Laura Thornley
Discarding his usual guise as founder and artistic director of film and theatre group the International WOW company, Josh Fox dons an Erin Brokovich style get-up to expose the underhand activities of natural gas companies. Hold tight, because it’s a fast paced lesson on the ins and outs of natural gas excavation, harmful chemicals, water purification and the US’s environment acts, washed down with a few laughs and a good helping of pyrotechnics.
The story goes that when Fox gets offered a few hundred thousand dollars for the land his family home is built on, alarm bells start ringing. Confused as to what natural gas company Halliburton could want with his land, he embarks on a voyage of discovery across the Marcellus Shale and beyond to meet the folk who have had a similarly generous offer.
Needless to say that what he uncovers along the way is a cesspit of unsurprising deceit and utter carelessness from the Fat Cats. Drinking water supplies are contaminated with unpronounceable chemicals left right and centre. Almost all water that is near a gas fracking well is so polluted, it can literally be set alight as it pours from the tap. It’s a sight that wouldn’t be that out of place in a big budget apocalyptic tale, and one that visably moves the filmmaker.
The bad news is that yes, this is another environmental documentary that sees the subjects in childlike surprise at what the huge energy corporations are capable of doing and their government not doing, as they proclaim throughout, ‘This isn’t America!’. Sadly, it is since Dick Cheney brought his skewed environmental laws to town, as Fox shows us time and again. The good news is that Fox is good company and manages a more personalised slant, having a vested interest as he does. His hazy footage of youthful halcyon days at his riverside home may be a little ‘free love’ for some, but they are at least useful in adding a degree of artistry to what could have been a clinical science lesson. He also manages to get a few laughs thanks to his many colourful contributors and the dubious comments made by politicians and company representatives. In particular, a gas company representative deems these acts as necessary, they must dig on home turf, in order to avoid foreign oil… and terrorism. It's laugh out loud stuff, until you realise he is actually serious.
What sets this apart from other environmental documentaries also is that it is looking at the excavation of an alternative energy supply. This isn’t your standard dirty coal story. It represents a call to arms for extra vigilance in this race for energy control. It’s a powerful piece, particularly when a vein- like map of America exposes the potential magnitude of this fracking work. And with new plans for these same companies to start fracking our side of the Atlantic, you better sit up and take notice.
Director Josh Fox/ USA 2010/ 107 mins
In cinemas 17th January
Read Laura's interview with director Josh Fox, which took place just a few days before Gasland was nominated for an Oscar!