9/10
Pondering the future with one of the best films at the Tribeca Film Festival
27 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
One of the better films screening at this years Tribeca film festival is a meditation on what we should do with the nuclear waste that's left behind. More specifically it's what Finland is doing with their nuclear waste. What the country is doing is digging a miles deep tomb in which they hope to bury all of their waste so that it will hopefully remain undisturbed for the 100 or more thousand years it will need to decay and become safe.

The film, which is more an essay in the form of a letter to future generations, is a trippy affair with some of the most haunting marriages of image and music you are likely to find. The film masterfully ponders what are our options for waste such as this and how do we protect our children's children's children from its dangers. I love how filmmaker Michael Madsen draws you in as if it's a fairy tale and forces you to think. He also scores many pints for presenting the people who are responsible for the project as human beings who are far from certain, but trying the best they can. Its nice to see a bunch of experts with the willies scared out of them.

If there is any flaw in the film its perhaps that its 75 minute running time is a couple minutes too long. But that is a quibble. This is a film that should be seen, preferably on a big screen in the dark where the imagery will work its way into your brain.

Okay- how good is the film? Out of the 11 films I saw at Tribeca so far this was the first and only film where no one moved when the end credits rolled. Everyone just sat there staring at the screen. Everyone seemed to want to stay to talk to the filmmaker at the Q&A. (except for the few of us who peeled ourselves out of our chairs to make trains or other screenings)
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