Fox's attempt to make a personal essay of Gasland is shallow (he only briefly discusses his life, and the film predictably ends in much expert commentary, bureaucratic posturing, and the requisite Congressional hearing), but it gives some perceived legitimacy to his unusual technique as a filmmaker. Gasland is full of jolting staccato edits and lyrical title cards; if the novelty isn't meaningful, it's still incredibly refreshing in such a staid genre, and in the surface of an issue requiring immediate attention. (Since the film premiered on HBO this summer, hydraulic fracturing has received some from the New York state legislature.)
Perhaps the smartest (and maybe the least hip) thing about Gasland is that it makes a point of professing its optimism. Fox begins the film by saying, "I'm not a pessimist," and many of his interview subjects profess their lack of cynicism, at least before their lives turned into an eternal bureaucratic nightmare. It's such a banal declaration, but the simple, revealing admission gives Fox's interviews — and his film — a tragic emotional arc.
GASLAND | directed by Josh Fox | produced by Molly Gandour + Trish Adlesic | distributed by International WOW Company | 104 minutes | screens at SPACE Gallery Dec 16 @ 7:30 pm | $7 | space538.org
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