Producer Jeff Bridges’s environmental op-ed—made with filmmaker Susan Kucera—is obviously one from the heart, but rather than proffering eco-solutions, Living in the Future’s Past is more of a visual team-affirmation exercise for pragmatic eco-mindsets. Against a poetic montage of natural imagery, Bridges ponders the interconnectedness of humans on the planet, noting how it is in humanity’s interest to deal with pollution, climate change, dwindling fuel resources, and mass extinctions. A VIP set of we're-all-in-this-together interviewees, including religious former congressman Bob Inglis, scientist and astronaut Piers Sellers, Being Ecological author Timothy Morton, physicist and author of Elastic: Flexible Thinking In a Time of Change Leonard Mlodinow, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark, and Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, add to the general chorus. The film calls out alarmist documentaries for both their "consumerist" quick-fix solutions (solar energy is inadequate, sorry) and implication that there is still time for a breather (the crisis is here and now). Despite condemnations of massive commercial waste and a throwaway society, the film asserts that trashing capitalism itself is a mistake but argues that for change to happen concerned citizens must be willing to scale back, embrace uncomfortable ideas, and abandon many easy-living conveniences. Although the viewer might expect nuclear power or some other unpopular notion to come to the fore, this is a film about attitudes rather than answers, but one that would still be a decent conversation-starter. Extras include a discussion featuring Kucera, Bridges, and interviewees. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Living in the Future's Past
(2018) 83 min. DVD: $89: public libraries; $395: colleges & universities. DRA. The Video Project. PPR. Closed captioned.
Living in the Future's Past
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