Ryan McNeil
Remember that part of ERIN BROCKOVICH where an entire county was getting sick because an energy company was contaminating the drinking water. Kinda scary concept isn’t it? Well prepare to be scared, because as Josh Fox’s documentary GASLAND points out, an awful lot of America is dealing with water and air contamination.
Right off the top, Fox tells us that he isn’t a pessimist…perhaps in an effort to remind us that what we’re about to see isn’t the end of the road. I can only hope he has some optimism to him, since his trek around America brings him to town after town that has had it’s natural resources deeply compromised. Why show us such things if one believed that it couldn’t be slowed…couldn’t be stopped? With a self-depricating wit, and a gritty tone worthy of film noir, Josh introduces us to family after family whose situations are quite shocking.
GASLAND explores what is happening to the American landscape as a byproduct of drilling for natural gas. As community after community allows a technology called ‘fracking’ (try saying that with a straight face) to tap into natural gas pockets, their water begins to turn colour. Or their water will fizz and bubble like a fresh can of Sprite. Or scariest of all…as drinking water spouts from their faucets, many residents are able to strike a match and light the stream on fire. “Water’s not supposed to do that” Fox says as he watches it burn…and nary a hint of irony can be heard in his voice.
This splendidly gritty film, fresh from a Special Jury Prize at Sundance, is a wake up call to many people living in these affected areas, and can hopefully become a beacon for people living in the American Northeast, since the next target for developers of natural gas is The Delaware River Basin…an unfiltered water supply for some 15 million people, including everyone in New York City and Philadelphia.
Official movie site of GASLAND
GASLAND PLAYS again on Sunday May 9th – 8:30pm at The Royal
Late comment. Sorry about that, but I was flicking through your archives and saw this, and had to comment.
DUDE! I friggin' know Josh Fox. He runs a theatre company in New York and was one of the people I worked with at this month long conservatory program I took at NYU over the summer. Really cool dude, and he told us a lot about this movie. I'm uber excited to see this when it premiers on HBO. Glad to see you enjoyed it. Maybe I'll pass this post along to him. Hmmmm…
@ Sebastian… No worries – actually gave me a smile to hear that someone was scrolling back through a few weeks worth of posts!
Fox certainly seemed like a cool guy, his narration and direction was one of the things I liked most about the doc.
If you do pass it along to him, let him know I really dug it and would love to ask him a few questions about it.