Editor’s Notes: How to Change the World opens in several cities in Canada, beginning August 7th including Toronto - Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Montreal – Cinema du Parc, and Vancouver – Vancity.
How to Change the World charts the genesis of the Greenpeace movement, from Vancouver-based hippies to accidental leaders of a global campaign. Jerry Rothwell’s brilliant documentary utilises beautifully vibrant 16mm footage from an archive of over 1,500 film cans to paint a touching picture of the human rivalries, idiosyncrasies and personal politics which helped form, and ultimately corrupt, one of last century’s most prolific groups. Rothwell frames the action largely through the vulnerable, intimate recordings of co-founder Bob Hunter to recount the early days and eventual decline of the oft-controversial campaigners.
A touching picture of the human rivalries, idiosyncrasies and personal politics which helped form, and ultimately corrupt, one of last century’s most prolific groups.
In 1971, a disparate group of hippies, friends and fishermen sailed into a nuclear test zone off the Canadian coast, and captured the world’s imagination. They then voyaged to the San Francisco coast to halt Russian whalers, which led to a near-fatal harpoon shot directly above their craft. Soon after, these outsiders clashed with seal hunters desperate to withhold their livelihood. Within mere years, they had gone from a motley crew of underdogs to the world’s most prolific environmentalist organisation. This rapid success led to a toxic brew of illness, frustration and bitter jealousy (only exascerbated by the arrival of glamourous starlet Brigette Bardot). Those rebellious youths who set sail in 1971 became Greenpeace.
Gathering together the movement’s surviving founding members, as well as those persuaded by the “eco-freaks’” Ghandi-inspired nonviolent protest, Rothwell creates an evocative vision of the improvised genius that lead to their infamy. Bobbi Hunter, Bob’s wife (just to make things confusing), is particularly heartbreaking in her accounts of the toll Bob’s mental and physical health took from his ceaseless lobbying. These incisive interviews give real, unfiltered insight into the interior lives of these accidental celebrities. The accounts of vicious in-fighting are genuinely affecting; the way simple disagreements can nearly lead to the breakdown of a social movement and, in some cases, whole lives.
Rothwell forms ravishing animated compositions to offset the very real concerns being presented.
As in the recent eco-documentary Bikes vs Cars, Rothwell forms ravishing animated compositions to offset the very real concerns being presented. At first, he uses the animations’ woozy quality in order to depict the LSD-fuelled trip the group experienced on their first endeavour. However, it eventually evolves into nightmarish visions of the gaping chasm the group are forming between each other, thus mirroring the larger decline of Greenpeace from mainstream social consciousness to a niche band of strident lobbyists.
Barry Pepper lends his appealingly dulcet tones to the narration, based on Hunter’s memoirs. He provides a controlled centre in a perfect storm of vitriol, rage and heightened emotions. Without him, the film could have divulged into s**t-flinging disdain, but his voice-over (and Rothwell’s assured direction) generates something far more hopeful and kind-hearted. For all their human flaws, these people really did change the world.
Passionate, informative and personal, How to Change the World is brilliant in the dissection of ego’s place in a social movement, balancing tense interplay with heartfelt human connection. For all its storytelling bravura, then, it’s a shame it barely scratches the surface of the organisation’s long and turbulent history.
Passionate, informative and personal, How to Change the World is brilliant in the dissection of ego’s place in a social movement, balancing tense interplay with heartfelt human connection. For all its storytelling bravura, then, it’s a shame it barely scratches the surface of the organisation’s long and turbulent history.
