Friday, November 6, 2009
Movie review: Crude
The most gut-wrenching sequence among many such presented in Crude, Joe Berlinger's documentary about the results of industrial oil extraction in the Ecuadorian rainforest, involves a duck.
Some would argue that the images of an infant covered head-to-toe in angry red blotches (presumably caused by bathing in petroleum-contaminated water) make a greater impact, but -- God help me -- I'm an animal lover. And when I got a gander of the spitting image of the AFLAC spokescritter lying on its back in a discarded tire, its breathing labored, its big yellow webbed feet jerking spasmodically ... I wanted to pull the covers over my head and make the world go away.
The 105-minute film presents an in-depth overview of what's referred to by some (including the filmmakers) as the "Amazon Chernobyl," and it's a pretty apt comparison. Standing in for nuclear despoilment (and doing a bang-up, environmentally-disastrous job of it) is petroleum contamination, resulting from the three decades-long extraction efforts of first Texaco (since purchased by Chevron) and then PetroEcuador, which took over production in the early 1990s.
The film follows the exploits of the team tasked with pursuing a lawsuit against Chevron on behalf of thousands of affected Ecuadorian natives. Not only have these indigenous peoples been exposed to dangerously carcinogenic pollutants (their groundwater -- used for drinking and bathing -- has a rainbow sheen), but their very way of life has been stripped away by the encroachment of heavy industry. They've been relocated; their folkways are vanishing.
Key players in this real-life drama are Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza, recipients of the 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize for their extraordinary efforts towards bringing a judgment to bear against Big Oil.
Leading the plaintiff team on the U.S. front is New York trial lawyer Steve Donziger. He orchestrates an epic PR campaign that succeeds in netting a Vanity Fair feature story. He also wins the high-profile public support of Trudie Styler (Sting's wife) and Rafael Correa, the newly-elected president of Ecuador, who makes a personal visit to the contaminated zone to see for himself the damage done to both the landscape and the population. (Correa sniffs the local water supply; he even tastes it, and pronounces it foul.)
The film eschews the Michael Moore/Morgan Spurlock first person approach, relying instead on the inherent power of the location footage and on-camera interviews with the principals in the case.
Trudie Styler visits with a mother and daughter who have both developed cancer.
An environmental engineer employed by Chevron is given a good deal of airtime to argue her (and her company's) position that the increased incidences of cancer occurring among the local population are in no way connected to the obvious oil contamination. One can't help but be reminded of pronouncements made by tobacco company doctors -- pre-Surgeon General's labeling.
The fact that court-appointed experts recommended a multi-billion settlement against Chevron has thus far resulted in nothing tangible, as attorneys for the oil company have alleged corruption in Ecuadorian judicial ranks. As Donziger puts it: "Money. And time. That's how they win."
Through the auspices of UNICEF, Styler recently delivered a number of filtered rainwater collection tanks to the jungle basin, offering a measure of relief to the people whose lives have been damaged (many beyond repair) by the oil extraction side effects. Her involvement in the case continues.
Meanwhile, after 16 years, the litigation goes on.
COFAN RAINFOREST PEOPLE SPEAK:
"It was a beautiful time. We had a clean jungle."
"They came and contaminated my river, spilled oil, and my children died."
"The animals drink water and die, and there is nothing you can do about it."
