River’ Review: A Gorgeous and Meditative Documentary Examines Our Relationship to the Arteries of Our Planet | Telluride 2021 [Part 2 - End]
By Matt Goldberg / Collider.com
On September 3, 2021
Peedom wisely doesn’t rely on talking heads or anything to break the flow of her film. River thus becomes not only a subject but also a filmmaking ethos, a way to carry the viewer to the points Peedom wants to make, and while the script does make those points directly, they’re never made as forcefully as the images we see before us.
One might think that when the film starts exploring pollution and the damage we’ve done to rivers that the film would turn into agitprop, but Peedom keeps her movie slow and steady, having Dafoe calmly narrate, “There’s always a downstream cost.” It’s a movie that never feels the need to raise its voice, and that control makes what it has to say all the more powerful. Peedom also doesn’t ignore the double-edged sword and that sometimes there are no easy answers. Yes, damming a river can bring electricity to places that need it, but that will cause stagnation and environmental damage. But every argument the film makes is always made more visually than vocally. If ever a film showed the value of showing instead of telling, River demonstrates that essential filmmaking lesson.
River is a poetic argument made potent. It uses imagery and personification to make its points come alive. Rather than a dry scolding about the importance of our natural resources, River invites us in and shows us why this ecology is not only beautiful but vital. The ecological dance depicted is both sublime and divine, and through its God’s-eye-view, we gain a new perspective on our world and what we owe to it.
Rating: A
River is playing as part of the 2021 Telluride Film Festival. It does not currently have a release date.
Photo: Willem Dafoe. Shot by Simon Emmett for ZEITmagazin - Winter 2019. Rome - Italy.
By Matt Goldberg / Collider.com
On September 3, 2021
Peedom wisely doesn’t rely on talking heads or anything to break the flow of her film. River thus becomes not only a subject but also a filmmaking ethos, a way to carry the viewer to the points Peedom wants to make, and while the script does make those points directly, they’re never made as forcefully as the images we see before us.
One might think that when the film starts exploring pollution and the damage we’ve done to rivers that the film would turn into agitprop, but Peedom keeps her movie slow and steady, having Dafoe calmly narrate, “There’s always a downstream cost.” It’s a movie that never feels the need to raise its voice, and that control makes what it has to say all the more powerful. Peedom also doesn’t ignore the double-edged sword and that sometimes there are no easy answers. Yes, damming a river can bring electricity to places that need it, but that will cause stagnation and environmental damage. But every argument the film makes is always made more visually than vocally. If ever a film showed the value of showing instead of telling, River demonstrates that essential filmmaking lesson.
River is a poetic argument made potent. It uses imagery and personification to make its points come alive. Rather than a dry scolding about the importance of our natural resources, River invites us in and shows us why this ecology is not only beautiful but vital. The ecological dance depicted is both sublime and divine, and through its God’s-eye-view, we gain a new perspective on our world and what we owe to it.
Rating: A
River is playing as part of the 2021 Telluride Film Festival. It does not currently have a release date.
Photo: Willem Dafoe. Shot by Simon Emmett for ZEITmagazin - Winter 2019. Rome - Italy.
River’ Review: A Gorgeous and Meditative Documentary Examines Our Relationship to the Arteries of Our Planet | Telluride 2021 [Part 2 - End]
By Matt Goldberg / Collider.com
On September 3, 2021
Peedom wisely doesn’t rely on talking heads or anything to break the flow of her film. River thus becomes not only a subject but also a filmmaking ethos, a way to carry the viewer to the points Peedom wants to make, and while the script does make those points directly, they’re never made as forcefully as the images we see before us.
One might think that when the film starts exploring pollution and the damage we’ve done to rivers that the film would turn into agitprop, but Peedom keeps her movie slow and steady, having Dafoe calmly narrate, “There’s always a downstream cost.” It’s a movie that never feels the need to raise its voice, and that control makes what it has to say all the more powerful. Peedom also doesn’t ignore the double-edged sword and that sometimes there are no easy answers. Yes, damming a river can bring electricity to places that need it, but that will cause stagnation and environmental damage. But every argument the film makes is always made more visually than vocally. If ever a film showed the value of showing instead of telling, River demonstrates that essential filmmaking lesson.
River is a poetic argument made potent. It uses imagery and personification to make its points come alive. Rather than a dry scolding about the importance of our natural resources, River invites us in and shows us why this ecology is not only beautiful but vital. The ecological dance depicted is both sublime and divine, and through its God’s-eye-view, we gain a new perspective on our world and what we owe to it.
Rating: A
River is playing as part of the 2021 Telluride Film Festival. It does not currently have a release date.
Photo: Willem Dafoe. Shot by Simon Emmett for ZEITmagazin - Winter 2019. Rome - Italy.
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