Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (2010)

A documentary on the safety of nuclear storage.

Director:

Michael Madsen

Writers:

Michael Madsen, Jesper Bergmann

Stars:

Carl Reinhold Bråkenhjelm, Mikael Jensen, Berit Lundqvist

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Carl Reinhold Bråkenhjelm
Mikael Jensen
Berit Lundqvist
Michael Madsen	...	Himself
Wendla Paile
Esko Roukola
Sami Savonrinne
Timo Seppälä
Juhani Vira
Peter Wikberg
Timo Äikäs	...	Himself

Storyline

The subject of "Into Eternity" is Onkalo, the Finnish government's attempt to solve its nuclear waste problem by carving a vast, 4km-deep bunker out of solid rock to bury it in for at least the next 100,000 years. However, the film's focus is bigger. Instead of looking for cover-ups and conspiracies at the site, Madsen uses the existence of Onkalo to create a hauntingly beautiful meditation on the mortality of our civilization, asking the question: what do we say about ourselves when we create something that will outlast everything we understand? That may be the last thing that remains of our society?

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Plot Keywords:

nuclear | storage | radiation | dump | underground | 

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Taglines:

We need you to know that this place should not be disturbed. You should stay away from this place ....then you will be safe.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

Denmark Finland Sweden Italy

Language:

English Swedish Finnish

Release Date:

6 January 2010 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Az örökkévalóságig

Filming Locations:

Finland

Box Office

Budget:

€668,952 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,530, 6 February 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$55,167, 14 August 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atmo Media Network, Film i Väst, Global HDTV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to high-level waste problems, there are numerous examples of existing disposal sites containing low level waste which have been leaking radiation into the environment. Drigg in the UK and CSM in LeHague, France being just two. No guarantees can be given that waste will remain isolated from the environment over the tens to hundreds of thousands of years. There is no 100 % reliable method to warn future generations about the existence of nuclear waste dumps. An example of where industry plans, to safely store nuclear waste, have been exposed as flawed is the proposed dump site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, US. After nearly 20 years of research and billions of dollars of investment, not one gram of spent fuel has been shipped to the site from nuclear reactors across the US. Major uncertainties in the geological suitability for waste disposal at the site remain. In the meantime, most nuclear power plants in the United States have resorted to the indefinite on-site dry cask storage of waste in steel and concrete casks.

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Quotes

Berit Lundqvist: If you want to take the people of China and India to the same level as the western countries in the next 20 years you'd have to start three new nuclear reactors every day.

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Soundtracks

Metamorphosis, No. 2
Written and performed by Philip Glass

User Reviews

The understated poetry of the vast

Looking sometimes more like Ridly Scotts Allan than an environmental film this gentle documentary about the vast takes you through a sometimes surreal vogue of discovery. What to do with a substance so toxic it must be hidden for 100,000 years, it must survive war and ice age. Written as a video letter to future generations the direction, conceptual artist and filmmaker Michael Madsen, takes you through a visually stunning and thought provoking journey. This may seem like a dry subject but his understated and sometimes playful approach to the subject draws you in keeping you engaged thought.

The film includes interviews with nuclear scientists and government representatives which take you into the strange world of thinking further into the future than we have ever dared to venture before. There is a candid honesty here that may alter your perception about our responsibilities.

This haunting film may well become a testimony to our inability to see the real cost of nuclear power yet it remains totally non judgemental thought.