Perfect climate for Biosphere doco
Spaceship Earth (PG, 113 mins) Directed by Matt Wolf Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2
Intended as a play to exorcise any demons before their ambitious project, The Wrong Stuff ended up being a prescient metaphor for what happened next.
The culmination of a two-decade long ambition to see if it was possible to establish human existence on other planets, Biosphere 2 was an environmental laboratory like no other.
Specially selected for their skills and knowledge, eight ‘‘biospherians’’ entered a giant vivarium in the heart of the Arizona desert in 1991, intent on spending two years in quarantine there.
Inspired by books like Buckminster Fuller’s Spaceship Earth and movies like Silent Running, they believed that they could grow their own crops and maintain a sustainable ecosystem.
However, after initially capturing global attention, it wasn’t long before questions began to be asked about the project’s real motives and scientific rigour (many dismissing it as ‘‘trendy ecological entertainment’’).
After all, the main minds behind it had been part of a collective, started in the late-1960s, known not only for owning everything from a New Mexico ranch, land in the Australian Outback and a gallery in London, but also for their performance art.
Then things really started to go haywire. One of the octet sliced her finger on a threshing machine, necessitating outside help. But while outside, she also allegedly helped herself to some ‘‘extra supplies’’, something the press seized upon.
That led to closer scrutiny of just how closed an ecosystem Biopshere 2 was, while, inside the dome, the close-knit group were falling out and clearly suffering for their art.
And that’s where the real gold of
Matt Wolf’s (whose previous subjects have included illustrator Hilary Knight, American artist Joe Brainard and disco cellist Arthur Russell) entertaining documentary lies.
Through archival footage and new interviews with most of those involved, he’s able to piece together an engrossing tale of an experiment gone awry.
Initial enthusiasm for sugarless cakes and banana wine is quickly replaced by harrowing tales of starvation and oxygen deprivation, as the ecosystem gets out of balance. Likewise, what started as a utopian ideal becomes driven by economic imperatives, as those bankrolling the operation seem intent on ‘‘scrubbing’’ data of any less than successful outcomes.
Yes, Spaceship Earth certainly has the potential to rival great documentaries like Project Nim and Three Identical Strangers in the ‘‘when scientific experiments go rogue’’ category.
But while it sometimes delivers a jaw-dropping moment or two, it lacks the insight or consistent revelations of those two classics.
Perhaps it needed more rigorous questioning of its interviewees, maybe a little more judicious editing was required (the first 30 minutes does drag a little), or a selection of less-obvious musical cuts (Jesus Jones and Talking Heads chart-toppers are among the most predictable choices).
But the initial look at the project’s roots are a Blerta-esque delight, filled with high ideals and out-there performances. It’s also fascinating to watch the media circus that surrounded Biosphere 2’s launch, from a Golden Girlfronted (Rue McClanahan) promo video to the filming of a Phil Donahue talkshow onsite.
Supremely timely given the world’s continued struggles with climate change and recent necessary enforced isolation, Spaceship Earth is well worth seeking out.
Spaceship Earth is available now on DocPlay.