Leonardo DiCaprio has his name tied to a lot of things –
his relationship with Martin Scorsese, his long quest for that Best Actor Oscar
win, and his affection for 20something supermodels – and while you can mock
some of that stuff, you can’t really poke fun at his concern regarding the
environment. The proof of DiCaprio’s commitment is in Before the Flood, the documentary he produced and starred in that
is directed by Fisher Stevens, noted environmental activist (and, of course
onetime Hackers villain).
This is well-researched, clearly articulated, and quite
frankly terrifying stuff, the kind of documentary that makes you want to slap
people in the face with your knowledge. “Give a shit about the world around you!”
you’ll want to scream after watching Before
the Flood. Your rage is DiCaprio’s and Stevens’s accomplishment.
Filmed over the span of a couple years, Before the Flood focuses on DiCaprio’s
journey as a public environmentalist, beginning with him being named a UN Messenger
of Peace on Climate Change and tracing some of his stops around the world –
including China, India, and the Arctic Circle, meeting with people like Elon Musk
and President Barack Obama – as he attempts to learn more about the problems
facing climate change and figure out ways to make things better. One of the
best things Leo does is admit exactly how much he doesn’t know, allowing other knowledgeable
people – noted scientists, government officials, and activists – to share their
opinions on what we need to do.
And, Before the
Flood makes clear, we need to do a whole hell of a lot better. The
documentary doesn’t pull any punches, which isn’t really a surprise from
Stevens (if you’ve seen his other documentaries, like The Cove, you’ll never forget it), but it is refreshing how
thoroughly Before the Flood rejects the
guise of “objectivity.” The reality is there shouldn’t be two sides to the
climate change debate, and there shouldn’t be a debate, because this is really
happening. We have caused this. And the question shouldn’t be, “Have we or haven’t
we?” but “How do we fix this, since we have definitively fucked things up?”
That’s the question DiCaprio explores, and what he finds is alternately
fascinating and shocking.
Before the Flood
is full of infuriating stuff, from the superficial (clips of Fox News
personalities mocking DiCaprio, saying it’s a “global warming hoax” and that “the
crisis doesn’t exist”) to the thoroughly real. Images of synthetic crude oil
facilities, where forests are decimated, steam is pumped into the ground, and
oil is taken out of the sand, totally ruining the environment (“It kind of
looks like Mordor,” Leo says). Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, where
centuries worth of ice has melted into an ice-cream-like texture. Miami, where
daytime flooding, caused by rising sea levels, which cripples the city is being
attacked with a $400 million pump project that will only fix the problem for a
few years. India, where Dr. Sunita Narain puts Leo in his place when he tries
to talk about the responsibility of India’s citizens to use more
environmentally friendly energy sources. How she shakes her head and notes to
Leo that Americans use more fossil fuels than practically every other country,
and that it’s hypocritical to expect other countries to do more when Americans
are doing less, is an excellent teachable moment both for him and for us.
Amid all this, what can we do? Before the Flood is clear in its disdain for politicians who refuse
to do anything about global warming, and names them: Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco
Rubio, Donald Trump, talking head Glenn Beck, the Koch brothers, Sen. James Inhofe,
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mitch McConnell, are you
sensing a theme here? When we have the power to vote these people out of
office, why don’t we?
Also effective are its small-scale suggestions for how
individuals can do better, like eating less red meat (70% of American
agricultural land is used for cattle grazing, whereas only 1% is used for
growing crops); supporting a carbon tax that would penalize institutions
responsible for carbon emissions; and investing in products that are
environmentally considerate, like Elon Musk’s Tesla and Solar City. That may
not seem like a lot, but the reality is that people need to act for companies
and governments to fall in line – and we’ve failed up until now.
It's not that Before
the Flood is totally flawless. Clips of Leo during filming of The Revenant are a tacit advertisement
for the film, and there is no mention of the current corruption scandal in
which DiCaprio’s foundation is currently embroiled. An interview with President
Obama is prestigious, but not particularly impactful. And yet there is so much
information here, and it’s presented so baldly, that it’s impossible to be
unaffected. Deny Before the Flood if
you choose, but you’re on the wrong side of history.
Rating:
4 out of 5 Guttenbergs
