A thought-provoking documentary that's both informative and strangely poignant--as well as beautifully shot and edited.
The Unforeseen (2007)
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 88 mins
Theatrical Release: Feb 29, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Laura Dunn's feature-length directorial debut is a profoundly stirring, visually stunning, and emotionally overpowering work of epic beauty. Sharing a kinship with the film's executive producer, Terrence Malick, Dunn's lyrical nonfiction poem reaches levels of transcendence not... Laura Dunn's feature-length directorial debut is a profoundly stirring, visually stunning, and emotionally overpowering work of epic beauty. Sharing a kinship with the film's executive producer, Terrence Malick, Dunn's lyrical nonfiction poem reaches levels of transcendence not often encountered in cinema. Malick and Robert Redford teamed up to executive produce this documentary about the problems of urban sprawl in Austin, Texas. An ambitious land developer there has big dreams, but they endanger beloved Barton Springs as well as the town as a whole. Redford defends the springs, the spot where he first learned to swim. Bradley's plan to build yet another subdivision that would disturb the beautiful natural swimming hole aroused a swell of communal emotion that challenged big business and development in a manner heretofore unseen. As Dunn tells her personal tale, using archival footage, gorgeous graphic effects, lush photography (courtesy of Lee Daniel), and present-day interviews with the formative players (Bradley, former governor Ann Richards, and many others), THE UNFORESEEN begins to speak on a much grander scale, challenging viewers to confront similar situations that continue to plague their own cities and neighborhoods. But where Dunn reveals her true humanity is in her portrait of Bradley, a reviled figure whom most opponents wouldn't take the time to try to understand. It is this rejection of anger and bitterness in favor of understanding and hope that makes THE UNFORESEEN such a transformative viewing experience and elevates it to greatness. [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Starring: Robert Redford, Willie Nelson, Ann Richards, Wendell Berry
Reviews
By turns rapturously beautiful and unspeakably sad while considering the consequences of unchecked urban sprawl.
Laura Dunn captures the national ecological battle in microcosm...
No one who sees this intriguing documentary will want to argue with reporter Greider when he forcefully insists, "We need a more mature regard for the future." We do indeed.
[Cinematographer] Daniel has never shot a film for Malick, though you'd hardly guess so, given The Unforeseen's poetic and dreamy shots of nature that, like the images that open the Malick's "The Thin Red Line," hint at an Earthly paradise.
This one purports to be different by including interviews with the evil, rich developers, but the film is very subtly slanted away from them.
The Unforeseen is a poetic and high-minded meditation on American developers’ manifest destiny and the cancer it introduces into the natural world.
Helmer [Laura] Dunn, though her heart is on her sleeve, gives an even-handed view of things from both sides.
An unusually poetic and meditative eco-themed documentary, Laura Dunn's The Unforeseen is as beautiful as it is ultimately depressing.
What do Willie Nelson and one of the world's biggest environmental killers have in common? Austin Texas! A very local perspective on the corporate war on the environment
Though fittingly directed by Laura Dunn, one can't help but feel the presence of producer Terrence Malick.
[Director Laura] Dunn's elegant, full-length debut presents a frightening and powerful argument against the kind of reckless, profit-driven land development that not only threatens natural resources, but life itself.
The Unforeseen explores the rights of man, the death of nature, the water below, the air above and all that going, going, gone green in between.
Calling The Unforeseen a documentary somehow feels crass. It's a work of art.
The movie wavers between Sundance-friendly issue film and spiritual reverie.
Add The Unforeseen to the catalog of artfully produced nonfiction films that show how humans are screwing up the planet.
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by: ReelReviewer.com 3/14


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