While nature shifts tons of earth daily via wind, water, and other natural forces, human beings move nearly three times that amount through excavation, mining, and drilling. In this Austrian film by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, viewers are shown seven locations and asked to think about mankind's insatiable needs for energy, land development, and commercial products versus the often-permanent devastation to the planet through ravaging the earth’s surface above and below ground. With only the noise of the equipment for background sound, plus the voices of personnel describing their work, Earth is striking for capturing man’s bout with the planet to secure its rich, but limited resources.
Using satellite imagery, locations are captured from above; these introductory images give the viewer a sense of the magnitude of each of the work sites. In the San Fernando Valley, a huge construction project is underway to tear down the hills, flatten the land, and prepare the ground for development; what was once a natural hilly area will soon be a new town with subdivisions, shopping centers, or industrial lots.
Close-up views show the excavators digging up the soil and rock, bulldozers moving the earth, and land movers coming down the hills to let out dirt alongside the new site. On the Italian border of Austria, construction workers bore through a mountain to create a rail tunnel. The open tunnel boring machine cuts through the mountain at 1.7 meters at a time. Violent blasts allow the machine to move forward and the excavated material moves out along a track.
In an open-pit coal mine in Gyongos, Hungary, explosives loosen the coal; then, giant diggers with large teeth scoop up the loosened material for coal processing. An immense open marble quarry contains large excavators with teeth to cut away large blocks of marble in Carrara, Italy. One worker describes the danger and thrill of extracting the marble from the mountain. Copper mine workers in Spain set charges to the earth to loosen the ground, then diggers scoop up the loose rock and the materials are processed to retrieve the copper. In a close-up view, a violent blast produces plentiful smoke and noise as the earth is uplifted.
Going far underground, a radioactive waste site is under development in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. Here engineers are devising a safe way to use old salt mine chambers to store barrels of radioactive waste. Finally, native Canadians describe the destruction of their land at Fort McKay as the tarsands are excavated for oil. While expressing the fact that they understand they are destroying the earth and the effort is unsustainable, the individuals interviewed acknowledge that the pay is good and the work is rewarding, though difficult. With a unique look at harnessing the earth’s resources, this film could be viewed in chapters in environmental science or engineering classes. Recommended. Aud: I, J, H, C, P.