PATAGONIA RISING – The Review

Review by Dane Marti

This First Run Features documentary PATAGONIA RISING starts out very promising:  The cinematography of Patagonia in Chile is lovely, showing mountains, glaciers and expansive farm fields ripe for farming. There are also two rivers that are essential to the lifestyle of the region: The Baker and the Pascua. These beautiful water sources contribute to the environment around them, including the temperate rainforests, estuaries and marine ecosystems. Patagonia is not always seen in movies or documentaries and it was interesting learning about that part of South America—an isolated and verdant area down near the bottom of the country, not far from the spot where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. In a nutshell, these rivers are the “life source” for the dynamic Gauchos—the dashing Cowboy of South America.

A multi-national corporation wants to build dams.  Why are they excited? Well, for them, massive hydroelectric dams are a proven, renewable energy source—power that is needed for the entire country, the best idea for Chile and its important energy needs.

In all, five dams are planned for the area. Obviously, there is going to be conflict between the sweet, authentic life of the Gauchos on one side and the huge corporations in favor of the new dams on the other! No one denies that the dams will create floodplains out of the river valleys. Many ranchers would have to leave their homeland, obviously.

The corporation, a conglomerate containing companies with headquarters centered in Spain and Italy, has a relocation plan, but in this film, the people involved with creating the dams are on the losing side:  This isn’t surprising, is it?

The position of the activists against the dams is spelled out in clear, vital information. Children could understand their humanist position. It’s hard to disagree with their compassionate, warm arguments, which are grounded in science. Still…in the film, I would love to have seen a larger defense from the corporation’s side! “Let’s hear it for the freaking’ bag guys!

In the documentary, they have a slightly nervous fellow explaining the obligatory reasons why the dams will be a positive thing for Chile. Poor guy! He has a thankless position in this film. (He’s in his latter years…you can see him going home and telling his wife what a tough day he had getting interviewed for a one-sided documentary!) No wonder he stops at one point to drink a glass of water. It might not be 60 Minutes TV interview but it isn’t a sublime walk in the park either. The man tries to speak compassionately about the poor people of the region and how they will be relocated, how they will receive money to move from their homeland (of course he is speaking the corps. Party line! All well thought out by a legal team the interview), but most viewers will already be convinced of the corporate Power’s cold inhumanity: Oh, those Bad and Evil Corporations!  It’s all about the money, obviously. A few fat cats getting wealthy while the poor are ripped from their homes and way of life

On that level, and within the context of the film, who on earth would side with the corporations? Not me! Hell, NO. Still, there is the lingering feeling….

Directed by Brian Lilla, the documentary is well constructed, but I felt something was missing—a shadow of information. Obviously, a documentary is not REALITY. In some respects it is as distorted and singular as any fictional film. Where the documentary filmmaker frames their lens, what information is utilized, what interviews are shown—and what segment of the interview—are all choices. Let’s not forget the editing and what is left on ‘the cutting room floor’…these choices all contribute to the movie not being lifelike or THE TRUTH.

Therefore, as noticed in many documentaries, the film takes a pretty one-sided in its approach. I’m sure much of the information is true. It will be dynamite for some viewers. Unfortunately, this approach to material doesn’t do much for me. While it does give the corporation’s rational point of view (The evil corporation!), it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize where the sympathies of the filmmakers lie.  Hell, it’s where my sympathies are as well. However, Chili needs power—Dams have been proven to work for human beings. Sadly, the environmental aspect is another matter!

Scientists and Renewable energy experts believe that Chile’s energy power could be found in “sustainable” conservation, such as the use of giant windmill turbines. They are shown in the doc., similar to the sleek, white behemoths that operate near Palm Springs, California and other places around the globe.

The energy experts also believe, through well-researched data, that there will definitely be problems with the new dams! Well, there are problems with everything.  Throughout the world, 45,000 major dams have been built within the past century—destroying or altering the fish and ocean life near the deltas through the depletion of sediment and nutrients caused by the dams. I appreciate all this information. Even the proponents of the dams will admit that some dams have been more intrusive and damaging to the environment than others! However, haven’t the Dams been useful in many other respects? They have been vital as an energy source.

Has the Hoover Dam in Arizona destroyed the environment

Some of the interviews with the Gauchos and farmers are honest and charming, illuminating their connection with the environment. Some of the best moments in the film are interviews lightly sprinkled throughout the film like compassionate and real seasoning

“I made my capital working with the animals and I don’t want to change that, “ said one farmer, “for all the Paso’s they offer!”
Another kind woman says” “I could not live without the birds and plants near the house.”

Animation, along with a smattering of English narration, helps to explain the crisis to viewers not conversant in the wonderful Spanish language; the animation and maps help explain the geography, technical and scientific background of this issue. Still, the subtitles are easy to read. There is great and intelligent information throughout the film.

A little gripe: To help the mood of the film, it would have been pleasant to hear a variety of ethic music, something “upbeat”–not just low-key, ominous sounds that made me a bit depressed. Frankly, while it is an overall well-made and informative film, a spark seems to be missing, something that will pull the viewers through the real-life crisis. Is it wrong for a documentary to be entertaining as well as informative?

Obviously, one would be a cold-hearted ass if they didn’t at least empathize with the plight of the people, farmers and Gauchos of the region. It isn’t just their home and lifestyle that is at stake, but… the new dams will irrevocably change Chile’s world forever.

For me, I cannot and will not see the two sides in a good/bad/black and white way. There are shades of gray even within this topic, as hard as that might be to comprehend.   Basically, I understand the pain and destruction that building dams will bring to the area.  It just seems to me that the corporations are once again portrayed as evil, moneymaking jerks. To make the film more interesting and realistic, to give the conflict in the documentary more zest, I think the unpopular side of the conflict should have been presented in a more favorable light or at least with more information to back up its stance. Hey, maybe it is simply about money and the Dam Proponents are only looking at the ‘big picture.’  I cannot say whether this is the case or not since I didn’t come away from the film thinking both sides had gotten their view across. Obviously, the film would be painfully long if this happened, but incisive editing could make things move at a quicker rate. While I learned and appreciated the overall intent of the film, it seemed that it didn’t let viewers make up their own mind: it seemed like propaganda, pure and simple.

Frankly, after watching this film, I would be against the building of the new dams, but I also realize that sometimes-unpleasant things happen to a small section of people, allowing the majority of people in a country to benefit in a positive way. This is a depressing reality. I have no answer. The film educated me, but I would have liked it more if the documentary had handled both sides of the issue in a slightly different and unique way.  I would like the viewer to see it and make his or her own decisions. There is definitely passionate intelligence within its limited framework.