Jennifer Baichwal, 2006
Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufactured Landscapes follows photographer Edward Burtynsky on a trip to China, where he tries to capture the change in the landscape of the country since the onset of intense industrial and manufacturing changes. What starts as a documentary about a photographer eventually expands to include the effects of all this change on the citizens of the country.
While I can’ t say that I ever really enjoyed this film, it was certainly interesting. Burtynsky photographs (which are a large chunk of the film) are often fascinating, and occasionally beautiful. However, after awhile, they become redundant. I began to feel like I wasn’t watching a movie, but a really elaborate PowerPoint presentation, and a rather boring one at that. The ambient score, while effective with the point the director is trying to get across, doesn’t help.
Fortunately, Baichwal is a very talented documentarian, and it’s no surprise that the most interesting shots and points of the film come from her. Every so often, she’ll be conducting an interview, and halfway through realize that something in the background is more interesting, and focus on that. She’s definitely someone to look out for (the shot above is from her, not Burtynsky).
The ideas presented in Manufactured Landscapes aren’t particularly new; the danger of globalization, peak oil, etc. If you’ve seen An Inconvenient Truth, Collapse, etc., you’ve heard all these talking points before. However, Baichwal’s talent at finding the most interesting thing in seemingly every shot, coupled with some truly gorgeous photographs from Burtynsky, make this one worth checking out (that opening shot alone warrants a recommendation).
(see more of edward burtynsky’s work here.)
