Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

With 12,000 ton and ten story high machines on the move in German forests, pools of lithium gleaming in the Atacama Desert sun, 10,000 elephant tusks on fire in Kenya, furnaces glowing in the world's largest heavy metal smelter in Norilsk and Lagos growing to 20 million inhabitants, we tipped the balance of the earth. The Holocene Epoch is done and the age of mass extinction, planet altering industry and swift climate change gaining momentum.

This astonishing, mesmerizing and disturbingly beautiful documentary presents stunning images and commentary from around the world with the hope that human tenacity and ingenuity might assume a new direction. It is not accusatory but grounded in humility and open-mindedness (what humanity needs for any shift in consciousness). It is not a vision or rumination on the future but what is real and already here. What a wakeup call! Grounding moments of humor and insight, such as when Russian women talking about little flowers blooming in barren rock and Russian men joking about their work, brighten the film. I wish there was more depth in places, but overall Anthropocene is insightful, revelatory and compelling. Seen at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival with the directors in attendance and providing input for this review. They recorded 300 hours per one hour of film.

The Scarred Epoch The Barren Epoch The Ravaged Epoch The Desert Epoch The Scorched Epoch The Wasted Epoch The Extinct Epoch The Drowned Epoch The Poisoned Epoch The Plastic Epoch The Final Epoch

Seeing what we have done to the earth makes me want humans gone from this planet. We have done enough damage. Time to end the human race experiment through any means. Launch the nukes!

While some reviewers feel they needed more information, I was content to revel in the exquisite images marked by section headings and occasional narration. Yes, there is so so much more that could be asked, and it would be great if there were accompanying materials for those who want to follow up, but I was simply swept away by the images (and drone work!) telling the simple truth about human transformation of the planet. (I do confess that I whipped out pen and paper in the middle of the film to note down the place names so I could Google them later). I am also a subscriber to Overview on Instagram which likewise documents human earthworks, in that case with a bit more narrative.

My biggest regret is not (yet) finding a way to watch this film again, at home, slowly.

The pretentious editing and beautiful pictures work but the story is confusing, wandering from one theme to another without connection. The movie is interesting but not enough.