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Friday, July 8, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
The Last Mountain
Resolute Residents Versus Corporate Bulldozers
Maria Gunnoe, an activist, during "The Last Mountain", Bill Haney's documentary.
Vivian Stockman
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
July 8, 2011
The movie poster for "The Last Mountain" eerily evokes the memory of the last
stand that 23-year-old American Rachel Corrie took in 2003 before being crushed
to death by an Israeli tank as she helped defend Palestinian homes against
destruction in the West Bank. It's a powerful and painful image, but
purposeful in conveying one of the most pertinent issues (in light of last
year's BP oil disaster) on film. Bill Haney's documentary, now playing in
Louisville, Minneapolis and Atlanta, is aimed squarely at getting your rapt
attention, and it does.
"The Last Mountain" chronicles the long fight residents of Coal River Valley,
West Virginia in the Appalachia region mount against the coal industry and its
relentless blasting of mountain caps for sources of energy. It's more than
an uphill battle for the residents. Environmental attorney and activist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes to Coal River Valley to plead an important case,
debating those on the other side of the blasting issue. "The Last
Mountain" specifically refers to Coal River Mountain, the only mountain in the
Appalachians to be "relatively" intact from mountain cap blasting. The
fight is on to keep it that way.
One of the impressive things about "The Last Mountain" is the mostly civil tone
of its discussions as well as its overall presentation. Clearly a clarion
call to action that's needed due to among other things the increasingly
hazardous practice (many of the residents know locals or have themselves been
sick or have died), the tenor of some of the discussions barely rise beyond a
shout across a room. That's not to say however, that confrontations do not
get heated.
The film itself doesn't bludgeon, but the stakes it raises resonate
unmistakably. We are told that sixteen pounds of coal is burned daily for
every man, woman and child in the U.S., a third of which comes from the blasting
in the Appalachian mountains. One needn't be an environmentalist to know
that that's a disturbing piece of information to digest.
A slender, 88-minute-work, Mr. Haney's agitation conscious-raising film is
undiluted, leaving narrators out and letting the subjects on both sides speak
clearly for themselves. All of us are blameworthy, passionate activists
like Maria Gunnoe argue, and her vigor in encouraging people to act to stop the
blasting practice is particularly noteworthy. "The Last Mountain" is an
urgent reminder of the toxic dangers of mountain top removal, along with a
potent prod at the coal industry, which, as on-camera subjects make clear, lines
the pockets of many of the politicians seated up on Capitol Hill not too many
miles away in Washington D.C.
One concerned individual speaks of frustration with the Obama Administration on
the issue of coal and the prevention of blasting of the Appalachia mountains for
new sources of energy. We see his dissatisfaction with what he views as
the current White House "with all deliberate speed" approach. The largest
salvoes however, are fired at Massey Energy, a corporate oil behemoth that
controls all the coal in Coal River Valley and has committed more than 60,000
environmental violations in seven years (2000 through 2006.)
"The Last Mountain" is one of the summer's most important documentaries,
offering a thorough education about issues that many people in the U.S. are
unaware of but would likely be shocked by. Ever-enlightening if not
entertaining -- the statistics and other despairing facts aren't meant to be --
"The Last Mountain" merits an even larger theatrical release. The
documentary has already played in numerous cities but is expanding to others,
including Seattle, Portland, Austin, Denver, Juneau, Long Beach, Charlotte, Knoxville
and Toronto in the coming weeks.
"The Last Mountain" is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
some thematic material and brief language. The film's running time is one
hour and 28 minutes.
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