Be informed

This time, despite Cruise, I fork out £26 for the two of us to enter a cinema at the unearthly film hour of 1030 on the grounds that this movie is significant in its approach to mainstreaming climate change awareness. It is significant. And although it had only a short stay on cinema screens, I recommend catching up with it when it is streamed. Despite Cruise.

Spoiler Alert – read no further if you are going to stream it. A viewer’s interpretation of events will determine how embedded they are in climate narratives.

The plot is straightforward. Digger is an oil magnate who lives in this surreal house with his cat. There’s definitely a nod to Goldfinger in this. The cat is old, incontinent and on its last legs. It is, however, the only other living thing he seems to care about. The rest is just money. It is a comedy. Some of it is slapstick, It is very funny. It is very dark humour, though. We are meant to laugh. Watch out for the spade and the fate of the cat. There is some great comedy timing.

So when he learns that his drilling in Greenland is causing an ice sheet to float free and collide with Europe he seeks to blame everyone other than himself for the catastrophe, including the president of the USA played brilliantly by John Goodman. That scenario is fantastical, but it is not meant to be accurate. For film goers who see it through to the end, reality and fantasy are constantly in flux. Ultimately we are being told that the oil industry can and will do untold damage to the planet. It is not just about that iceberg. It is about tipping points. These are the triggers that unleash irreversible chain reactions, including plague. There is also the scenario that using nuclear weapons to break up the iceberg leads to nuclear war as the act itself is interpreted as an act of war. This realisation knocks the smile off the military commander who thought he had a reason to use his nuclear arsenal to show off the power of the USA.

There is one particular standout scene. Standout in terms of its script, visuals and performance (right). He flies to Europe to “defend” himself over his culpability for the tragedy. If one has not been paying attention, the expectation is that he will show some contrition for the lives, livelihoods and lost land. If you have been paying attention, you will know that Digger will never do that (remind you of someone?). Digger’s speech follows that of his chief scientist who can no longer hold his lip. He comes clean to the Europeans and expects serious consequences from Digger. But he gets none of it as it provides the opportunity for Digger to present his own truth.