One of the most shocking realizations of this new
documentary that looks at the rise and fall of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
was that the Authorities response to their initial peaceful protests was to
beat, club and unmercifully mace them and generally treat them like murderers
when the only physical harm they had done was to property and not to any human
beings at all. The protests led to
pro-active anarchy with members of ELF burning down lumber mills, SUV
dealerships and meat packing plants. When the film goes on to reveal that in
March 2001 the Front was designated as U.S’s 'no 1 domestic terrorist threat’ by
the FBI and they launched a full scale investigation as if the ELF were as bad
as the Mafia you suddenly start questioning your sympathies even if like me,
you find it hard to accept the validity of the arson attacks that caused millions
of dollars of damage.
The filmmakers strive to tell this story as unbiased
as possible and to give them credit I think they succeed but when you see
scenes that show 500 year old redwoods being felled, and acres and acres of
empty craggy lands where forests once stood, it is very difficult not to feel
emotional about how shortsighted corporations and governments are as they
actively destroy major chunks of our planet.
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman give this story a very
personal edge by following the evolving fortune of Danny McGowan who had been
in one of the Front’s cells some years back and was now pottering around his
sister’s apartment under house arrest and facing the prospect of a lengthy
jail sentence for his involvement.
McGowan is a rather normal nice kid in his 20’s and seemed the most
unlikely candidate that could ever be mistaken for being a terrorist. He was the son of a NY Policemen and had
attended business school and then worked for a large public relations
company. His first interest in
environmental matters came from seeing a documentary film about deforestation,
and it motivated him sufficiently to up sticks and move to Eugene, Oregon to
throw himself full-time into environmental causes. There is no question of
denying his involvement in illegal activities, but what the film focuses on is
the potential severity of his punishment.
When he eventually goes to trial, the Judge decides that for his part in
what at worst could be described as malicious damage, McGowan is now to be
placed of the government’s official terrorist watchdog list for the rest of his
life. This is the same list that the
perpetrators if 9/11 are on. There is
simply no justification for that at all.
The film finishes with the observation that the ELF is
less active these days but I cannot for one moment imagine that their passion
is any less.
A highly emotive story intelligently told that quite rightly makes one thing about how radical action taken by a few is met with response that is even more radical and totally unjustifiable.
Totally unmissable, even if it scares the living daylights out of you (or maybe because it does).
★★★★★★★★★
★★★★★★★★★
