Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (2010) Reviews

• Magnificent and thoughtful documentary which all should see

  robert-temple-12011-01-23

  Director and presenter Michael Madsden (not the same person as the actor of that name) has made a documentary film which may well be unique. Everyone should see it, because it concerns the future of our species and our planet, and it is not a superficial film by any means. He has adopted a moody Alain Resnais-style approach to the subject of the storage of nuclear waste for a necessary 100,000 years. This is not a propaganda film against nuclear energy at all. No comment is made for or against nuclear energy. I cannot understand the bizarre, I might almost say mad, review by a Latvian who claimed that this film was hilarious. Normally I would never criticize a review by another person, but this is such an extreme instance that comment really is required. This film is so far from being hilarious that how anyone could think so is inconceivable to me, and I am forced to doubt the person's sanity. Perhaps the Latvian reviewer is one of those people who would laugh hysterically upon witnessing the end of the world. Madsden evokes a powerful atmosphere in this film, showing haunting shots of the underground Onkalo ('Hidden Place') site in Finland where nuclear waste will be stored. The most effective parts of the film however are the amazing interviews with the Finnish and Swedish scientists and technologists (all in English). They are most impressive and deeply thoughtful people. The things revealed in this film about this important subject are truly mind-boggling. The film has an elegiac feel about it, as if it were a message to some future species about who and what the extinct humans once were. The Finns should leave a copy of the film in their underground caverns, in case they are ever entered tens of thousands of years from now. We should also put DVDs of this film into satellites which we send into deep space, as a kind of sad testament to a failed species, in the hope that some other species might find them one day and figure out how to view them, and learn the pathetic lessons of our inability to think sufficiently deeply, which is the fatal flaw of our human kind. Meanwhile, this film should be shown in all schools all over the world with the utmost urgency, and screened on all serious television channels in every country. But of course none of this will happen. I write as someone who has tried so far unsuccessfully to introduce crucial new technology into the storage of nuclear waste. The monstrous complacency and stupidity which I have encountered forces me to face the possibility that our species may become extinct within 100 years. I say this with sad resignation.

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• Moody and haunting with music to match - gives an interesting feeling

  metro12011-01-17

  If you look only at the subject matter which is building a long 3 mile tunnels down 500 meters into bed rock it sounds more like a theme that you would see on a television series like mega structures filled with high-tech, how did they do it kind of thing. Here, however, the technology to do this project is hardly mentioned as digging deep holes in the ground such are used in mining has gone on a very long time. Here instead we see more of a scene about timelessness and about the unknown. Of course we have a pretty remarkable project being constructed and then filled over a 100 year period named Onkalo. As no one will be involved in both the start and the completion of the project when finished, the plan is to abandon the structure and hope that no one will attempt to enter for at least 100,000 years. The deep moodiness of the film with its haunting music and barren forest scenes with gray landscape tries to force you into a mood of the vastness of time. To put this into perspective, the pyramids were built about 4000 years ago, though we think cave dwellers lived 30,000 years ago and maybe humans have actually been around for 100,000 years. But will they even exist as long as this storage facility is supposed to? No one knows. When it is sealed in 2120 do we just forget about it or do you warn people about it? Will warning people make them want to explore? Will there still be humans like we are, or will they be much different as we are to Neanderthal man. These are some of the things discussed in the film. It is short, only one hour and 15 min. The director likes long sweeping zooming in traveling shots. This work definitely gives you a feeling that you don't get from many films, but one not easy to describe. Near the end of the film as two workers are just walking into one section of the tunnel it in itself is totally non-remarkable and could be shot in any mine or cave in the world but the mood of the scene and the music behind is effective and you get some feeling that it is actually quite difficult to create something you hope will last 100,000 years. A unique film and the mood it imparts makes it worth more than one viewing.

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• Pondering the future with one of the best films at the Tribeca Film Festival

  dbborroughs2010-04-27

  One of the better films screening at this years Tribeca film festival is a meditation on what we should do with the nuclear waste that's left behind. More specifically it's what Finland is doing with their nuclear waste. What the country is doing is digging a miles deep tomb in which they hope to bury all of their waste so that it will hopefully remain undisturbed for the 100 or more thousand years it will need to decay and become safe. The film, which is more an essay in the form of a letter to future generations, is a trippy affair with some of the most haunting marriages of image and music you are likely to find. The film masterfully ponders what are our options for waste such as this and how do we protect our children's children's children from its dangers. I love how filmmaker Michael Madsen draws you in as if it's a fairy tale and forces you to think. He also scores many pints for presenting the people who are responsible for the project as human beings who are far from certain, but trying the best they can. Its nice to see a bunch of experts with the willies scared out of them. If there is any flaw in the film its perhaps that its 75 minute running time is a couple minutes too long. But that is a quibble. This is a film that should be seen, preferably on a big screen in the dark where the imagery will work its way into your brain. Okay- how good is the film? Out of the 11 films I saw at Tribeca so far this was the first and only film where no one moved when the end credits rolled. Everyone just sat there staring at the screen. Everyone seemed to want to stay to talk to the filmmaker at the Q&A. (except for the few of us who peeled ourselves out of our chairs to make trains or other screenings)

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• A futuristic fable of mega-proportions

  olivia-1132011-01-23

  A white and eerie endless tunnel blasted out of the rock leads us in to the sinister yet strangely lyrical world of nuclear waste storage. The frozen trees of Finland lead us along icy tracks to something which must be beautiful, but no, it is the wicked giant who lives below the earth. We must never ever disturb him. Michael Madsen has produced and presents this film for the future with great love and concern for his fellow humans and the planet. Striking a match from within the dark and deep tunnel, a permanent tomb for nuclear waste, his face partially lit by the diminishing flame, Madsen speaks like a prophet/poet as he addresses the future and explains the dangers of disturbing this alchemical product entombed beneath the rock. He interviews the Finnish and Swedish scientists of the Onkalo project whose job it is to lock this stuff away and their philosophical dilemma about its whereabouts. Should we leave a marker warning DANGER KEEP OUT or should the site be unmarked and forgotten in the hope that it will truly never be disturbed. In this case never means, 100,000 years. Filmed across a large shiny desk with harsh lighting these poor men look anguished and disturbed by their responsibilities, almost to the point of nervous collapse. The footage of clear icicle-like rods containing the waste being lowered into shafts and water pools is like watching a ballet performed by gigantic molecules operated by an invisible hand. Everyone should see this film. It is a disturbing testament to our brightly lit lives which we continue to take for granted at our and the planet's peril.

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• A uniquely cool provocation of thought

  AULhall2011-08-13

  I don't believe I am exaggerating when I claim that this is one of the coolest works of film I've ever watched. It's a thought experiment packaged within a brilliantly paced, well directed, and aptly scored documentary. The subject matter is critically important to anyone with half an eye on the distant future, and writer/director Michael Madsen does not fail to put matters into perspective. This won't be for everyone, since it doesn't spoon-feed the viewer easy answers, nor does it cater at all to those with little imagination. But if you like thinking about topics that generally fall only under the scope of the science fiction genre, and you don't mind tackling questions that are both grand and open-ended, then this documentary will be time well spent.

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