Director: Chris Smith
If you’re one of the people that doesn’t buy into theories like peak oil or global warming (the ignorant, we will call you), “Collapse” is not an easy sell. While researching for a screenplay about CIA involvement in drug smuggling, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Chris Smith (“American Movie”) met a subject with ideas worthy of a film in itself. He is Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD officer and successful freelance journalist. The man seems humble, easy-going enough – but he theorizes that humankind is past the point of no return, teetering the edge of disaster.
Smith makes no effort for counterpoint – this is Ruppert’s vision, and he’s shot alone accompanied only sporadically by spliced in archival footage. Although his ideas are certainly alarmist, he speaks well – persuasive, articulate, thorough. His theories may not come to fruition, but one can’t argue that his logic is not relatively sound.
The defining image of “Collapse” is a bell curve representing global oil resources. We’re on the downward slope. We’ve already used over half of the known oil reserves, and the demand is increasing rapidly. Oil isn’t just for your car, either – without oil, there’s no paint, no plastic. There are eight gallons of oil in every tire. The solution, it’s clear, does not rely solely on developing more fuel-efficient cars.
Ruppert also considers alternative forms of energy – nuclear power plants are possible, but it’ll take a hell of a lot of oil and energy to get those built. Wind power is only strongest near it’s sources. Solar power is efficient, but we’re going to need a lot more panels. Ruppert’s solution? Buy seeds, form communal bonds, and be prepared for the incoming anarchy.
Just when you think that you can predict everything “Collapse” has to say, Smith throws a curveball near the very end. He questions his subject, questions his theories, and begins to criticize him for the first time in the film. There’s no question that “Collapse” champions his ideas, but Smith also understands the importance of character study in a film about an ideology. Michael Ruppert isn’t for everybody, but “Collapse” presents the possibility of a future impossible to ignore.
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