118. Rebellion; movie review

 

 

REBELLION

Cert TBA

82 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

“You have to break the law. Don't let anyone tell you that you're going to get anywhere by not breaking the law.”

The words of Roger Hallam, one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion may seem too strident in isolation.

But, in essence, he is right.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs, Suffragettes, Greenham Common Women and many more have made the world a better place after being thrown in jail.

Hallam is one of the central figures during Maia Kenworthy and Elena Sánchez Bellot's thorough documentary inside of Extinction Rebellion - the climate change protest movement which has raised many hackles through its disruption of London.

It can also be credited with bringing this huge issue further up the government's agenda.

Extinction Rebellion mirrored the Greenham Common protest in growing from very small seeds into being a giant thorn in the Government's bum.

And yet its leadership had their own problems, wrestling over which paths to follow in order to win the most political gains.

All of the key players are interviewed, including former UN negotiator Farhana Yamin who tried to keep its aims focused and Hallam's daughter, Savannah, who led the group's young people in questioning her father's dictatorial style.

And then there is Gail Bradbrook, one of the founders who tries but usually fails to ensure compromise is reached.

Amid the chaos among its leadership it is startling that Extinction Rebellion had any successful rallies but it did and it gained the support of thousands of people to its cause.

The documentary presents footage from each of its events and deliberate disruptions and the tactical chats which went before them.

Inevitably, there are highs and lows but never has a documentary about a protest movement been more intimate than this.

Consequently, it goes over similar ground quite a lot but it also highlights a truth - we should not need anyone to superglue themselves to a pavement or road to prompt us to do our bit to prevent climate change.

Reasons to watch: Deep insight into the Extinction Rebellion movement

Reasons to avoid: Goes over the same ground many times

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? The concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere currently stands at around 441 parts per million (ppm), the highest it’s ever been. Approximately half of the CO2 emitted since 1750 has occurred in the last 40 years. The average size of vertebrate populations (excluding humans) decreased by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014 and the number of floods and heavy rains has, globally, doubled since 2004 (quadruple what it was in 1980).

The final word. Roger Hallam: "The bottom line is, everyone is sort of complicit, you can’t live your life without participating in the destruction of the next generation, and that makes everyone uncomfortable."

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