
Victoria
The best thing about Victoria isn’t actually its technical prowess—it’s the lead performance from the mesmerizing Laia Costa as the title character.
The best thing about Victoria isn’t actually its technical prowess—it’s the lead performance from the mesmerizing Laia Costa as the title character.
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On April 10, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of
Mexico, killing 11 workers on the rig, and dumping what amounted to
almost 5 million barrels of crude into the gulf. The leak continued
without interruption for 87 days, devastating the Gulf coastline, its
wildlife, its beaches and its entire fishing industry (the main source
of income for many in the bayou). BP's lack of response to the initial
spill brought ferocious criticism to the company. BP tried to pass the
blame off onto Transocean, the company to whom they leased the rig.
Years have passed. Many who have put in claims to BP for financial
compensation have yet to see any cash. Just last month, however, a
federal judge stated that BP was the one most responsible for the spill,
and the company could be looking at fines of up to $18 billion. Even in
the oil industry, that is a lot of money. Margaret Brown's documentary
"The Great Invisible" personalizes the well-publicized event, bringing
us close to those affected by it, fishermen, survivors and seafood workers: the "invisible" victims of the massive catastrophe. Winner of the SXSW
Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, "The Great Invisible" is strongest
when it focuses on the micro rather than the macro. How the spill
impacted individuals in the region is the real story of "The Great
Invisible."
Brown hails from Alabama, and her wonderful 2008 documentary "The Order
of Myths" was a full-immersion look at Mobile's long-standing Mardi Gras
celebration (one for whites, one for blacks). It was territory Brown
knew well (her grandfather was interviewed for the documentary), and the
film felt personal and confident. "The Great Invisible" lacks that
intimacy, and the fact that BP refused to participate in the making of
the documentary inhibited Brown's approach. Her only "way in" was
through the residents of the bayou and those who had worked on the rig.
These are touching interviews, mixed with footage from news stories
about the spill, and C-Span footage of hearings in the U.S. House of
Representatives, where one of the oil company CEOs admitted point-blank
under tough questioning, "We are not well-equipped to handle" spills.
All of this was well-documented at the time, the BP spill dominating the
news for weeks. There aren't any revelations in "The Great Invisible",
in terms of how poorly the spill was handled, and how badly the region
was impacted. That was front page news. The aftermath lingers, however,
and "The Great Invisible" is an urgent reminder.
Brown's gift is in the interviews she gets, which include a grieving
father whose son was killed in the explosion and two oil rig workers who
now suffer from a variety of maladies, including PTSD and depression
(one guy pulls W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge" off of his
crowded bookshelf and explains that he had read it in college, but now
he really "vibes" to it in a different way because of what he has gone
through). Brown also interviews many seafood workers in Bayou La Batre,
the seafood capital of Alabama. The shrimp boat captains, the workers
who crack open oysters, the ones whose livelihood dried up post-spill…these are the front-line witnesses to the financial impact. These
details provide texture and understanding of the area. One small boy,
seen in a classroom discussion about the spill, talks with some hurt
about "everyone up in the Northern states" who have no concept of
just how bad it is down there.
The most interesting man we meet is Roosevelt Harris, a seemingly
full-time volunteer for a local church, who collects donated food and
drives it around to those in need. He is a one-man charity organization.
He cooks up spaghetti, knowing that he may need to feed 300 people. If
there is any information to be imparted about BP's compensation plans,
he is the one who spreads the word. Roosevelt drives through an area
called Hardluck City, where people live in trailers, tents, old school
buses, old boats. These people are off the grid, poverty-struck,
desperate, proud. One guy has nailed up a sign on the side of his
trailer: "Nothing left to steal." Roosevelt is a talker, entertaining
and informative, supportive and optimistic, although at one point he
admits to the camera, "Alabama's my home state but I declare I wish I been
born somewhere else." If there is a hero in "The Great Invisible,"
Roosevelt is it. He does good because someone has to do good in this
world. It feels good to help others. Roosevelt understands the social
contract.
The closest Brown gets to the oil industry is showing the massive oil
conference that occurs every year, with CEOs and executives descending
on Houston from all over the world to present the latest technology,
hob-nob, and bask in their own reflected glory. It's an interesting
glimpse into a world rarely seen. A group of executives go out for
seafood, drink Scotch, smoke cigars, and talk about oil. The
conversation they have is fascinating, as they address the problem of
consumers wanting cheap gasoline, and the challenges of the industry as a
whole. We are all a part of the oil problem as it exists currently, and
these guys know that, and speak knowledgeably about it. Brown chooses
to film their conversation in a pretty heavy-handed way, with closeups
of cigar smoke and platters covered in delicious-looking shellfish, with
the Houston skyline in the background. It is impossible to look at
these guys and not contrast it to the residents of Hardluck City, but it
would be a mistake to dismiss their commentary entirely.
The ending of "The Great Invisible" leaves one with a hopeless and
enraged feeling, a sense that BP has escaped responsibility entirely,
that nothing has changed and another catastrophic spill is inevitable.
The ruling in September 2014, declaring BP the main culprit of the
spill, could be a watershed moment. BP has contested the ruling, and
there will be a lengthy appeals process, but no one can say now that BP
has escaped responsibility. United States Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr. said in response to the ruling, “We are pleased. The court’s
finding will ensure that the company is held fully accountable for its
recklessness." Let's hope.
This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr...
A review of Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies" from its NYFF premiere last night.
A review of season two of FX's "Fargo."