There's nothing like vintage 50s footage for a shot of sick irony. Half Lives, a film on the birth and legacy of the American atomic revolution, features a government-produced PR piece on the "blessings of atomic energy," complete with a zestful woman dancing around a nuclear-powered refrigerator. As the film notes, nuclear energy could either perfect life or end it. Half Lives explains the political context in which atomic bombs were invented, and listens to the now-aging atomic scientists who believed they were working to "end war." Only afterwards did they realize they had been building bombs. From here the film considers the unforeseen issue of nuclear waste, and some philosophical questions: would we still have made the bomb if we had known its consequences here and abroad? Can the intelligence that created such a technology also solve the problems it created? Although the subject matter seems bleak, Half Lives is well-photographed and boldly scripted, almost poetic. It's more brainy essay than gutsy documentary, not as critical of its subject as a viewer might expect. Half Lives works as a look at the dangers of unchecked science; it's also a dark piece of Americana, revealing our endless lust for progress and attempt to conquer nature. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (A. Laker)
Half Lives
(1995) 56 min. $99.99. The Nuclear Waste Documentary Project. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 11, Issue 6
Half Lives
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