This movie was an eye opener for me, but not because I didn't know mountain top removal has a terrible impact on the ecosystem, but because for the first time a documentary managed to give me a better understanding of why people become activists. It's the measure you take to as a peaceful person when all other means fail. One of the most moving moments is when an 11 year old girl goes to the governors office with her uncle to give him a donation for building a new school, away from the massive risk that a coal silo in the back yard of her current school and a waste slug lake(!) further on poses to all of the children. I must say, when a 11 year old has to fight her cause by pulling a publicity stunt because an adult politician is in the pockets of the coal industry, we as adults have failed miserably.
Of course you also get to hear the view of the coal miners for a little bit, but this documentary is clearly biased in that it's against the coal industry. I would have liked to hear more views from the average worker, because their concerns are very real also. They need to get food on the table and the coal industry provides the means to do so. Wind farms might produce more work, but you frankly can't expect a coal worker to become wind mill experts just like that. Inevitably, a lot of the workers would not be retrained and they'd loose their job. The issues and their solutions are never black and white, they're always gray.
Visual quality is what you expect it to be for a documentary that collects it's material from several sources. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's very grainy. The graphics were nice, but sometimes changed a bit too quick for me to be able to read everything.
One point deduction comes from the sound. I didn't like that music was played in the background when people were telling their opinions. As a person who doesn't speak English natively, some of the accents are hard enough to understand without music added to the mixture.
Overall though the message is an important one and I hope this film is able to provide another platform for it to be heard.
Of course you also get to hear the view of the coal miners for a little bit, but this documentary is clearly biased in that it's against the coal industry. I would have liked to hear more views from the average worker, because their concerns are very real also. They need to get food on the table and the coal industry provides the means to do so. Wind farms might produce more work, but you frankly can't expect a coal worker to become wind mill experts just like that. Inevitably, a lot of the workers would not be retrained and they'd loose their job. The issues and their solutions are never black and white, they're always gray.
Visual quality is what you expect it to be for a documentary that collects it's material from several sources. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's very grainy. The graphics were nice, but sometimes changed a bit too quick for me to be able to read everything.
One point deduction comes from the sound. I didn't like that music was played in the background when people were telling their opinions. As a person who doesn't speak English natively, some of the accents are hard enough to understand without music added to the mixture.
Overall though the message is an important one and I hope this film is able to provide another platform for it to be heard.