Racing Extinction, a pyrotechnic and touching documentary of 2015, tells us through the eyes of various protagonists among which we find innovators, photographers, activists, journalists, researchers, primatologists and so on, the ominous prospects of some animals and their occurrence that is happening right under our eyes, often turned away.
The theme of the movie Racing Extinction
The theme touched by the brilliant documentary Racing Extinction, the anthropogenic extinction, that is the one caused by the human being, is not so easy to treat, especially if the purpose is not to dwell on an academic list of the species that, alas, have left the planet forever, but rather to reach people's consciences.
The director, a successful photographer of international caliber, along with a vast team of talented collaborators, experts in various sectors, wants not only to point out how many species have become extinct by human hand, but also how many are gradually dying out, just today, right now, due to some often avoidable, sometimes nefarious, behaviors.
The beauty of some songs of birds no longer existing and recorded in an American archive, the magnificent and mysterious song of the whale, and the touching images of numerous animals projected, batman logo style, of the night skies of US cities, are counterbalanced by scenes gruesome, chilling testimonies of very violent daily data: the fishing of some endangered animals such as sharks and mantas, especially for the Chinese domestic market. The film aims to touch consciences, stimulate the emotions that are usually raised in the face of free suffering.
But there is much more: the documentary mentions and explains the mechanism of some previous mass extinctions in the history of the planet, such as the great die-off, mass extinction occurred in the Premiano-Triassic, and links some elements of risk present to the era still present, such as the excessive production of carbon dioxide, the immoderate introduction of methane in the atmosphere, and the consequent acidification of the seas.
Shells speak for themselves not being able to grow because of the corrosion of the shell in waters that are too acidic.
At the base of all this is a cruel and unrepentant ignorance, a blind link to business, millionaire affairs, without considering the catastrophic consequences that a mass extinction can entail.
Even the extinction of a limited number of species is not only a priceless loss from the academic or genetic point of view, it is a compromise of the large and refined clockwork mechanism that is the planet, a sort of living and sentient contraption where every form of life plays its part in a concert of beauty every moment unrepeatable.
There remains a sensation suspended towards the end of the film, a question at the end of all these emotions that arise in the face of beauty and brutality, poetry and blood.
Is it possible that extinction is always and only so negative and only life at all costs is the positive pole of existence? We all agree to denounce the folly of certain useless and avoidable deaths of anthropogenic origin, but in itself, without extinction, evolution would not take place, since life and death are both parts of a force that exceeds them.
What really leaves us appalled and pushes us to reflect is not so much the extinction itself but the senselessness and the waste that corrupt the sacredness of life, not death.
Some interesting facts about the film
The cut of the film follows certain wonderful articles by National Geographic, some of his brave champagne in favor of respect for nature, and in this we note the director's naturalist photographer background, his second adventure behind the camera after The Cove, documentary of 2009 where the massive massacre of dolphins was reported by some Japanese organizations.
Brilliant is the involvement of Elon Musk, the man in charge of Tesla Motors, considered the Tesla of our days and always sensitive in terms of new green technologies. Elon Musk will make available a modified Tesla Model S (a fully electric car) at the end of the film, which allows images of the animals that are saying goodbye to be projected around the city.
The documentary Racing Extinction won the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award in 2016 and, in general, has made its mark on most critics.
Title : Racing Extinction
Year : 2015
Country : USA
Director : Louie Psihoyos
Duration : 94 minutes
