An inconvenient truth

I've just been to see Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" at a special preview screening for members of York's City Screen. As I walked to the cinema I was thinking about how many people would turn up at 11am on a Sunday morning to see a documentary by a failed presidential candidite talking about Global Warming. I may, I thought, be the only one there!
The queue was visible as soon as I turned the corner. It was sold out and the only people going into Screen 3 had booked in advanced. I stood in line and hoped to fill the seat of someone who didn't show up. I was ushered in a couple of minutes before the film began.
I'll talk about the style of the film in a minute. The content was compelling. Al Gore presented graph after graph and statistic after statistic to demonstrate how the climate change we are experiencing cannot be part of a cycle of events, simply repeating what had happened many times in past centuries and eons.
We were treated to misty recollections of his youth and images from across the planet to backup the dry charts of scientific findings. Melting glaciers, dried up lakes, intensifying tropical storms, floods, droughts and tree damage were all projected on the screen to convince us that our lifestyles must change if we are to avert disaster, not just in this generation but in others that lie ahead - if the human race survives that long.
Was I convinced? I felt as though I was sitting with the converted. Intelligent, educated, comfortable middle class people. People who were already thinking about reducing their impact on the planet. Not much convincing needed - more like reinforcing.
So what about the film? It was essentially a film about the presentation that Al Gore in his own words has given over a thousand times in cities across the USA and the world. Hence the graphs and stats. It was all held on his Apple Powerbook and delivered on Keynote software. There was a manageable dose of mockerty directed at George Bush and a muted gripe about the rigged election that Al Gore won and lost.
The ending was upbeat. After the gloom of his predictions, Al Gore turned campaigner and preacher and roused the audience to an optimistic climax. We can do something, more than is needed, by making changes now. It's not too late. I suppose it's the only way that a film like this could end if the American audience is to be kept on board.
It's great weakness is that Al Gore is making a film about Al Gore's campaign. It may work in the US but here it needs someone more impartial to present the film and to interrogate the facts and projections.
Will it make people think? Yes; if they go to see it, stay the course and want to be convinced. Will is change the masses? No; but it's a start - and perhaps other film makers, producers and writers will get on board to drive the message into hard to reach lifestyles. Go and see it. Judge for yourself - and comment here.
And when you go - don't expect to be the only one there - be on the safe side and book in advance!