Beautiful Islands

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Climate Change Documentary Chronicles Effect of Global Warming

Do you believe in global warming? If not, you probably shouldn’t move to Venice, Italy, Shishmaref, Alaska or Tuvalu, Polynesia, the islands which are the focus of this daunting documentary chronicling the fallout of climate change. The visually-captivating movie marks the directorial debut of Tokyo’s Kana Tomoko, who mostly lets the pictures do the talking in a film featuring precious little in terms of dialogue. In fact, rather than having experts weigh-in, most of the speaking here is done by the indigenous people living in each of the affected areas, especially children, the future generation about to inherit mammoth ecological challenges.
For instance, Tuvalu, a Polynesian paradise located in the South Pacific,
is a virtually flat country which is apparently literally sinking. As one local observes, water is encroaching from every direction, even from below the soil, so nobody knows where to reinforce the soil. The way of life is threatened in Venice, too, where everything from public piazzas to shopping malls routinely get swamped during high tide. There, we’re introduced to 13 year-old Claudio, the forlorn son of a gondolier who frets that he won’t be able to follow in his father’s footsteps.
The situation is far more dire up in Shishmaref, where not only is ground disappearing but so are people, such as the son of an Eskimo who perished when he fell through a crack in the rapidly melting Arctic ice. The problem is that rising temperatures have led to a thinning of the permafrost which in turn has resulted in dozens of oceanfront homes being claimed by the encroaching seacoast.
A heartbreaking expose’ which leaves no doubt that dramatic environmental change is unfolding at every latitude, whether they be the consequences of human overconsumption of fossil fuels or merely the hand of God.

Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for violence, mild epithets, smoking and brief nudity.
In Tuvaluan, Italian and Inuit with subtitles.
Running time: 106 Minutes
Distributor: Eleven Arts