Dirty Energy (Bryan Hopkins, 2012): USA

Reviewed by Tyler Rowland.  Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2012.

In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, filmmaker Bryan Hopkins explores the ramifications that the spill had on the environment, families, and communities along the bayou.  He was “just a pissed off guy who got his ass off the couch”, and was able to construct a film that lets the people of the area be heard.

By utilizing quality audio and video, along with a good sense of editing, this story melds together in a fashion that is very sympathetic toward the victims directly impacted from this event.  A major focus is the difference between a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina, and a manmade incident such as this.  Archival television reports and courtroom testimony from the head of British Petroleum, the corporation whose rig exploded causing the mess, along with general consensus, place the blame squarely of the shoulders of BP.  No problem, it will all be cleaned up, the environment will recover, and all will be forgotten.  British Petroleum will take care of it all.

Well, none of those obligations were actually fulfilled.  By interviewing locals, we get a behind the scenes report (what the media would not report) of what happened during the entire processs, from before the incident, all the way through the clean up.  Because our faithful government allowed Bp to have complete control of the area during the clean up, guerrilla video tactics were used to pirate video of the devastation and had to be smuggled out.

The cinematography was great, introducing the film showing a group of oil clusters, each one a different vibrant color.  At times, the Gulf was portrayed in all its glory, showing the shimmering sunset, representing all that those fisherman have ever  known.  At others, the Gulf is exposed as an area not fit for life.  We see footage of the species that the waters have to offer, along with birds, and we all know what kind of affect oily birds have on camera.

I recommend this film.  It expresses that, yeah, there was a major disaster that happened to these folks and many more just like them.  But that is a small region of the country.  Disasters can happen anywhere, and exposure to volatile organic compounds can be experienced in any local community in the country.  This occurs because of a general ignorance of the American public, which can be eliminated by educating ourselves.

After the filmed was shown, there was a lengthy question and answer with the director and a few of the interviewees from the film.  A man and his wife, a woman very angry about the situation and with just cause, expressed how the “bayou is like Mad Max”.  The husband was a very somber man, humbly mentioning that we need to feel lucky that we have the clean waters we do, because his entire way of life is destroyed.  The environmental biologist spoke of the short term chemically induced illnesses and the unknown long term health concerns due to chemicals used to dilute the oil slicks.  An audience member questioned whether they ever got mad enough to want to riot, the scientist stated she did not want a riot, she wanted a revolution.