An ingenious blend of documentary, drama and animation, Franny Armstrongís The Age of Stupid examines the current debate and action on climate change through the lens of an Earth ravaged by the forces of global warming circa 2055.† Using artfully crafted animation, the film moves from the Big Bang to the year 2055, where we encounter an Earth whose once prominent cities have suffered irrevocable damage due to decades of climate change: Sydney burns to the ground, London is flooded and Las Vegas has become a desert.
It is in this grim setting that we encounter the Archivist, played by Peter Postlethwaite, who has amassed a formidable digital archive of mankind’s achievements in the melting Arctic.† Postlethwaite is the sole fictional character, whose melancholy rumination on past inaction against climate change serves as the starting point for the film, the rest of which is told through a mix of archived video footage, media clips and animations.
At the heart of the film lies the stories of real people, the subjects of six separate documentaries. Piers Guy and his wife Lisa are both activists and Piers works as a wind farm developer.† There is also the story of Fernand Pareau, a French mountain guide who witnesses first hand the receding of glaciers on Mont Blanc.† Added to this cast of stories are Nigerian medical student Layefa Malemi, Indian airline entrepreneur Jeh Wadia, Iraqi refugees Jamila and Adnan Bayyoud and Shell Oil employee Alvin DuVernay.
The stories behind these names are perhaps the most compelling and inspiring aspects of the film.† We watch as Piers travels from region to region in hopes of convincing otherwise apathetic residents to invest in wind as a renewable source of energy, only to have ideas shut down because wind farms might ìruin the view.”† We watch as Layefa struggles to earn enough to survive in one of Africa’s most oil-rich countries and as she ultimately resorts to smuggling diesel. We watch as Alvin, having both survived and helped victims of Hurricane Katrina, criticizes the wasteful use of oil even as he returns to work at Shell Oil.
Perhaps the most baffling and intriguing of these accounts is Piers’ experience advocating for the development of wind farms, a battle he appears to constantly lose because his opponents have succeeded in forming their own coalitions and groups and have found clever ways of masking their true reasons for opposing the wind farms: they ruin the view.† The call to action is both real and palpable, underscored by beautifully crafted animation sequences that examine the economic root of climate change and the emergence of a consumerist culture.
It is difficult not to draw comparisons with Al Gore’s ìAn Inconvenient Truth” as ìThe Age of Stupid” promises to be one of a few climate change films to make a strong showing in theaters.† Some might find the premise of a sole human survivor sorrowfully mourning the mistakes and inaction of his predecessors hard to swallow, especially considering how little a role the Archivist comes to play in the film.
To this viewer, ìThe Age of Stupid” lacks the depth and focus of films like ìAn Inconvenient Truth,” substituting detailed investigations of the causes of climate change for poignant and emotionally-charged glimpses into the lives of people affected.† The variety of voices and views expressed in the film stands as a testament to Armstrong’s success at weaving together a diverse collection of accounts into a passionate and sobering examination of the human costs of climate change.