There is a new front on the battle against climate change says writer/director Mark Dowd, and that is with religious groups. Looking at the sense of stewardship inherent in Islam, Christianity and others, Dowd presents his case that religious leaders have a vital part to play in commanding, motivating and leading change across devout followers across the world.
You should probably ignore the irony of Dowd and his film crew jetting from one side of the world to the other to make this film (although cynics will love to mention that one) because mostly the film is about challenging others to change their behaviour in line with the commands of their religion. The point is a fair one and in a way Dowd is correct in challenging the world's moral leaders to step up on behalf of God's world, however how he does it is a bit "light entertainment" and unstructured. This makes the documentary feel a little bit fluffy and disjointed as he makes the same point in different ways rather than feeling like he is building a case with many strong points. His interviews with various religious leaders are interesting though as the majority of them seem happy to ignore the effect of modern life on the world the Hindu section being the funniest in the way that the central tenant of respect for life is just ignored when questioned! That said though, it is a bit weak as a thesis but is still engaging for what it does. A more varied argument and better structure would have helped make it a film that could have challenged (which this isn't strong enough to do) rather than one that will be mainly preaching to the converted (sorry).
You should probably ignore the irony of Dowd and his film crew jetting from one side of the world to the other to make this film (although cynics will love to mention that one) because mostly the film is about challenging others to change their behaviour in line with the commands of their religion. The point is a fair one and in a way Dowd is correct in challenging the world's moral leaders to step up on behalf of God's world, however how he does it is a bit "light entertainment" and unstructured. This makes the documentary feel a little bit fluffy and disjointed as he makes the same point in different ways rather than feeling like he is building a case with many strong points. His interviews with various religious leaders are interesting though as the majority of them seem happy to ignore the effect of modern life on the world the Hindu section being the funniest in the way that the central tenant of respect for life is just ignored when questioned! That said though, it is a bit weak as a thesis but is still engaging for what it does. A more varied argument and better structure would have helped make it a film that could have challenged (which this isn't strong enough to do) rather than one that will be mainly preaching to the converted (sorry).
