Documentary charts Greenpeace’s beginnings
How To Change the World Rating: Documentary Directed by: Jerry Rothwell Duration: 112 minutes
It’s always fascinating to go back to the beginning — of a scene, a movement, an era. It offers an opportunity not only to rewind time but to get at the gestation of a thing, when ideas were being formed and things were happening without a master plan or a clear idea of how they would turn out, often with an innocence that takes on new meaning in retrospect.
That’s certainly the case in Jerry Rothwell’s How to Change the World, a documentary on the beginnings of Greenpeace which goes beyond any preconceptions one might have about the activist organization today to tell the story of how things started out.
There is little attempt at perspective, or even objectivity. This is the story of Greenpeace as told by its founders, including and especially its late leader Bob Hunter, whose memoir (read by actor Barry Pepper) is used as a narrative thread.
It all began in the late 1969 with the announcement that the American government was going to conduct nuclear tests in Alaska, which sparked the ire and indignation of left-wing Vancouver Sun reporter Hunter, who recruited some friends including sailor Paul Watson and scientist Patrick Moore, hired a boat and set out for Amchitka to protest the test.
The film glosses over some aspects of Greenpeace’s formation, focusing on these three men and the eclectic crew of volunteers they assembled for the cause. Support swelled quickly, as did media interest, and soon the team was the focus of growing attention worldwide, raising awareness for their cause and learning the power of a “mindbomb,” or striking image that resonates with people.
We hear about the origin of the name Greenpeace and we follow the team’s next project, spearheaded by Hunter, to save the whales. Heading out in a boat once again, they put themselves in the direct line of fire of the harpoons of Russian whaling ships, returning with dramatic imagery that gave birth to the Save the Whales movement.
All of this is revisited using an impressive amount of Greenpeace’s own archival footage, interspersed with present-day interviews with the remaining players. It isn’t all happy-go-lucky, however.
As the movement grows, tensions arise within the ranks. Hopper was an inspiring leader, but he wasn’t exactly organized; throw in alcohol, marijuana and antidepressants and things got complicated.
Watson and Moore, meanwhile, were at each other’s throats, and then there were the independent Greenpeace offices popping up all over the globe.
Though he does a decent job of showing how things unravelled, Rothwell falls victim to cheerleading, and at times his film can feel like a Greenpeace infomercial. And yet he still uncovers some interesting tidbits, like the fact that Moore is now a paid antienvironmentalist spokesperson for big business.
Ultimately, his film is most interesting for the way it places us in the thick of the action at a turning point in the environmental movement.
Friday’s screenings of How to Change the World at Cinéma du Parc (3575 Parc Ave.) will be introduced by Greenpeace cofounder Bobbi Hunter.