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Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-day Outlaws
R2 - United Kingdom - Dogwoof Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (6th October 2011). |
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The Film
 I suppose I'm your average guy when it comes to thoughts on climate change. I know it's a problem, and I know I should do my bit... I kind of do by way of recycling or walking down to the shop a few streets away instead of jumping in the car but I know I can and should do more. I still refuse to pay for a 'bag for life' at the supermarket when I know I'll never remember to take it with me and plastic bags are right there at the till for free, and I still refuse to buy a car that has a small engine, as I like to have the oomph to overtake on my frequent long journeys. I should probably take public transport more but it's unreliable and often unsuitable for my needs, let alone the fact that buses and trains are generally full of smelly drunk undesirables. But there is that element out there that go too far in their actions, protesting in a manner that causes criminal damage, disrupts the days of hard working folks and wastes police resources when the old bill could be off doing better things. These are the people portrayed in Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-day Outlaws. The synopsis from Dogwoof reads: For one eventful year director Emily James was allowed unprecedented access to film the secretive world of environmental direct action. The world of eco-activism has rarely been seen on film due to its underground nature, but this inspiring feature documentary reveals the determination and risk of some of its larger than life campaigners. Emily James spent more than a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp, Plane Stupid, and Climate Rush to document their clandestine activities. She joins them as they climb over fences, wade through mud, blockade factories, attack coal power stations and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks despite the very real threat of arrest. Just Do It lifts the lid on climate activism and the daring rebel rousers who have crossed the line to stand up for what they believe in. Unfortunately, these 'activists' annoyed me all the way through the documentary. Whilst I agree with a lot of what they have to say, there is a way to go about it by organising peaceful protests, not by glueing yourself to the door of a bank or government building, disrupting everybody else (and no doubt annoying them into going against your cause) in the process. Why cut down fences of sites to gain access and cause disruption? Yes, climate change is bad, but so is criminal damage and use of police resources to a point where it is obviously of significant cost to the taxpayer. Let's not forget either that a lot of the young people involved come across as obviously being from privileged backgrounds. How can you campaign against capitalism when it has possibly played a hand in your parents wealth and in paying for your own private education? The documentary also misses several important directions. Whilst they are quick to tell us the police are violent harbingers of doom, the police don't actually get their own say and no interview with any police officer is included apart from general correspondance at protests. It's an extremely one-sided look at what is one of the most important issues in the world today and by being biased, the feature loses every chance at being a serious documentary. They list the problems facing the world today yet fail to give any serious examples of what can be done to help responsibly solve the issues without going to the extreme. Despite the bias and how much these people annoyed me, I can't help but wonder why I was glued to the screen. The insight into how committed some of these folks are to the 'cause', and the (wrongful IMO) extent to which they will go to prove a point is of interest. It's also interesting to see the set-up of camps which all include training sessions and how they prepare for arrest by writing the mobile numbers of their legal 'experts' on their arms in case the police take their personal belongings at the station. Just Do It contains a lot of insightful footage making it a worthwhile and recommended viewing, I just wish it wasn't such a one-sided affair.
Video
Dogwoof have presented Just Do It with an anamorphic transfer at a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Featuring various qualities of footage from handhelds, secret cameras and phone cameras, the video quality is a mixed bag. Scenes featuring thought out tours of the camps or meetings between activists are of much better quality than footage from the protests. It's adequate and doesn't ruin the viewing experience.
Audio
There are three audio tracks available, 5.1 and two 2.0 Stereo tracks (one that bleeps out the cursing) and all are in English. Seperation is minimal as is use of the LFE and dialogue isn;t always of a consistent volume due to the nature of the filming. When the drop in dialogue volume does happen though, subtitles do pop up on screen. Subtitles have been included for the feature in multiple languages, commendable for a small studio: Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.
Extras
We start off the extras with four deleted scenes: - "Chatham House" (5:37) - "Climate Bike Rush" (3:42) - "Corporate Takeover: City Airport" (2:32) - "The Poo Story" (3:30) They all were rightfully deleted as they would have disrupted the pacing of the feature, yet are all worthy of a viewing. Of particular note is The Poo Story which looks closer at the toilet stalls at Climate Camp. Next up, a couple of behind the scenes featurettes: - "The Edit Gets Started" (4:06) - "Crowd Funding Appeal" (1:34) The Edit Gets Started looks at the editing process and is a little boring as it is more about the people who aren't getting paid than the actual cutting of scenes and the technicalities and difficulties surrounding which footage to use. Crowd Funding Appeal shows us who is who but is basically an excuse for anti-capitalists to ask for money?!? Finally, there are a few short films from Climate Camp TV: - "A Guided Tour of Climate Camp 2009" (2:38) - "The Title of This Film was Reached by Consensus" (2:09) - "Pedal Power Smoothies" (0:48) These are throwaway pieces that don't add much in the way of serious information or engaging conversation.
Overall
Recommended viewing, if a very biased documentary. Dogwoof have done a decent extras package and video/audio is adequate.
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