If you ask someone about Gasland you may get : "Its the one where they light tap water on fire." And indeed it is. Most coverage of the film highlighted the flaming tap water that was said to be contaminated due to fracking operations by energy companies to extract natural gas. (Just Google it......but be prepared to see rebuttals to rebuttals.) But Josh Fox's film, and its follow up, Gasland 2 (Electric Boogaloo) are more than the Flame On! of docs.
Fox begins his one man band doc after recieving an offer to allow fracking on his family's land, in return for a handsome payday. Fox begins seeking out others who sold drilling rights only to find water contamination, land that can't be sold, and most shocking of all :
Big Oil/Gas Can't Be Trusted.....
Oh, and Dick Cheney is Satan...
Of course even if Fox treads familiar ground, one could reason if we know these things to be true, why haven't we done anything about it? Gasland (s) are activist docs but they sidestep the snark that sometimes bogs down (or saves) other docs of its ilk. Fox's style and strength is just pointing the camera at people and letting them talk, telling their stories. They are OpEds, they do present a particular point of view, no doubt skewed to Fox's side of the story. But they are valid and deserve to be heard. Gasland 2 is more of the same, but its still compelling and worthy of your attention.
What Fox lacks in "film language" he more than makes up for with his desire. His need to tell his, and a lot of people's side of this complex story. And he has done what all good Docs do. He has brought about conversation about a subject most were unfamilar with, and now we must face. And he has done it without the budget a big energy company uses to make those shiny , happy commercials, full of shiny happy people.
Available via Netflix/HBOGo
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