Her Campus at Helsinki is kicking off its environmentally conscious theme week with a list of movies and documentaries that will hopefully not only make you more aware of some of the urgent issues Mother Nature continues to face today, but also simply appreciate the beauty all around you. Movie nights are thus good for escapism but also for stopping to reflect on the world we live in. The good news is that themes like politics and environmental issues can be found in pretty much any genre, from documentary to romance. Here’s a small selection of different genres (by no means a ranking) to get you started. Cinematography is an art form that can open our eyes – and one way to appreciate the beauty of our world.
Erin Brockovich (2000) – legal drama based on a true story
Based on a true story, the film dramatizes the rise to fame of Erin Brockovich (played by Julia Roberts). To feed her family, the single mum of three gets a job at a lawyer’s office despite not having a law degree. Having started with more mundane tasks, she soon uncovers how a big-shot energy corporation has been lying to the residents of a town about the safety of their water: their various health issues have in fact been caused by hexavalent chromium, a toxic isotope that has contaminated the water. Thus Erin finally feels she has a reason to do something meaningful as she starts digging into the cover-up. The real-life Ms. Brockovich, now a consumer advocate and environmental activist, is said to have called Steven Soderbergh’s film “probably 98% accurate”, and it’s a worthwhile watch for its realism and its harsh-truth portrayal of a woman’s struggle to juggle work and family.
Tale of a Lake (Järven tarina) (2016) – a documentary from Finland
Maybe your summer cottage is by one of Finland’s lakes (of which there are actually over 187,000), but rarely do we get a peek into what’s going on below the calm surface. This documentary mixes Finnish folklore and mythology with footage from all four seasons of the year. Meet cute ringed seals and seafowl, but also the less-conventionally cute (although fascinating) species of freshwater fish. This is a close up of a world you don’t usually get to see and the experience is quite magical. The director, Marko Röhr, has also made Tale of a Forest (Metsän tarina) (2012).
Avatar (2009) – fantasy romance in space
This fantasy sci-fi with top-notch visual effects is a romance set in space whose plot revolves around ecology and imperialism. Humans are keen on gaining access to the natural resources of Pandora, a beautiful lush moon with mining potential. Their main obstacle is the local tribe of the humanoid Na’vi, wherefore they send out former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) to get acquainted with the locals, and Jake ends up developing feelings for Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the daughter of the tribe’s leader. Jake soon discovers that the Na’vi have a close spiritual bond to their forest and refuse to let humans destroy their homes. James Cameron’s film has been met with some criticism for having a white male (i.e. Jake) as the stereotypical hero who saves the indigenous people and their primitive civilization. While there may be some truth in these criticisms, perhaps it’s not necessarily a bad thing that even outsiders can see the value of nature preservation.
Wall-E (2008) – sci-fi for the whole family
Disney and Pixar may have many films with environmental messages, but in Wall-E they are perhaps the most pronounced. Written and directed by Andrew Stanton, this touching adventure with a lot of re-watch potential considers the dangers of both waste management and consumerism. Wall-E the robot is in charge of cleaning a waste covered planet Earth, left behind by humans (who currently live in space ships) after it became uninhabitable even by plants. It’s up to the robots to save the day, as humans have become so comfortable in their automated lives that they have forgotten what it means to take responsibility both for themselves and the planet. Let’s make sure we never end up in that kind of a situation!
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no Tani no Naushika) (1984) – a fantasy about mankind vs animals
Director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are well-known for films that touch upon environmental and pacifistic themes and usually have strong female leads. Another highly recommended film from their production is Princess Mononoke (1997), but Miyazaki’s Nausicaä is what started it all, actually before Studio Ghibli was even founded. The story is set in a time where an apocalyptic war using bioweapons has long ago destroyed the world as we know it and left behind a dangerous toxic jungle. The army wants to destroy both the forest and the gigantic trilobite-like creatures who inhabit it, the Ohms. Our heroine Nausicaä is the only one who dares to stand up to protect the Ohm, whom she realizes are not truly evil – just like the toxic forest, they are only the result of mankind’s bioweapons and engineering. Don’t let the fact that it’s animated rather than live-action put you off!
Soylent Green (1973) – a dystopian thriller on overpopulation
The year is 2022, the place New York City, and detective Frank Thorn (Charlton Heston) is investigating the murder of a rich man with many connections. In this world of pollution, the greenhouse effect and overpopulation have resulted in near lack of natural resources, the most popular food among common people being the energy-bar-like Soylent Green. Only the rich can afford the luxury that is hot showers and food from natural ingredients. Related to the theme of overpopulation and food depletion, the film also paints a dark picture of a society where women and the poor are especially vulnerable. The film, directed by Richard Fleischer, is based on Harry Harrison’s novel Make Room! Make Room!
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – a bold what-if disaster
Roland Emmerich’s disaster film presents us with the scenario of New York City (and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere) becoming covered in ice and snow. Freakish superstorms freeze continents, quickly forcing people to evacuate south in the midst of chaos, while scientists led by Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) try to predict the outcome. Much of the film’s suspense is in the rescue mission of a group of teenagers (including Jake Gyllenhaal as Sam Hall, Jack’s son) trapped in a library in NYC. The scientific explanations behind the new Ice Age is a bit flimsy, but nevertheless, like all what-if films, it does bring into attention the severe effects of climate change where temperatures plummet, and it’s a good action adventure for movie nights with nice special effects.
The China Syndrome (1979) – thriller drama in the world of media
A California reporter (Jane Fonda) gets the first big news story of her career: an accident at a nuclear power plant. As stated by the shift supervisor (Jack Lemmon), the accident is not fatal, but it is a sign of a bigger structural problem with the plant, an omen of a meltdown so big it could create a hole from the US all the way to China (hence the title). However, as the revelation of the problem would result in huge losses for the plant, some authorities want to shush the news and deny that anything ever happened. Interestingly, the film’s premiere was only 12 days before Three Mile Island power plant accident in Pennsylvania. Director James Bridges’ film is a thriller for the nuclear age that also makes you think about how media portrays (or doesn’t portray) disasters and corporate greed…