How to Live on Earth review – Benedict Cumberbatch exudes positivity in response to the climate crisis
An antithesis of the doom and gloom docs about environmental destruction, Cumberbatch and expert contributors look at how we can all help to protect it
An antithesis of the doom and gloom docs about environmental destruction, Cumberbatch and expert contributors look at how we can all help to protect it There is value in a documentary about the environment and the climate crisis that does not simply indulge in hand-wringing, anger and despair. Fredi Devas’s film, presented by Benedict Cumberbatch in London’s History Museum and composed of segments from different contributors, focuses on real, positive measures that individuals and communities can take – or begin to take – to make a difference.
I’m agnostic about the sometimes touchy-feely tone of the film which can feel like a schools educational programme rather than something intended for adults, and occasionally also about the surging score which is there to tell us when to feel hopeful and when to feel euphoric. But there is food for thought here. The film revives the issue about meat eating, which requires colossally destructive land clearance for the cattle involved, but it doesn’t simply try to make people feel guilty for liking meat.
Plant-based substitutes for meat like mycelium are not good enough yet, we hear, but improvements are being made all the time. Bio-investment initiatives are discussed – business models which are linked to regenerating the natural world, the source of raw materials. The film interviews a forest healing instructor in South Korea who uses woodland spaces for therapy; of course, it’s tempting to do jokes about “tree hugging” and yet who can doubt that these natural places are indeed restorative?
Naturalist and broadcaster Dan O’Neill is shown visiting Singapore and instead of throwing up his hands in horror at this turbo-capitalist place where people can reputedly be severely reprimanded for spitting gum on the pavement, he praises its policy of integrating green spaces into the urban environment. Continue reading...
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