A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
by Ray McCormack, Basil Gelpke, Reto Caduff
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Abdul Samad Al-Awadi, Wade AdamsDirector: Basil Gelpke, Ray McCormack, Reto Caduff
Brand: NEW VIDEO GROUP
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: DOCURAMA
Product features:
- An unforgettable and shocking wake-up call, A Crude Awakening offers the rock-solid argument that the era of cheap oil is in the past. Relentless and clear-eyed, this intensively-researched film drills deep into the uncomfortable realities of a world that is both addicted to fossil fuels and blissfully unaware of the looming "peak oil" crisis. Drawing on an international cast of maveric
Movie Reviews of A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
Movie Review: Most Important Documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
Like some people (George W. Bush comes to mind) describe their life in terms of "before 9/11 and after 9/11", in a sense I describe my life as "before A Crude Awakening, and after A Crude Awakening". I've watched a lot of fine movies and DVD's in my life, but I think I have to rate this as the most important one I've watched. It is not that the message is so novel. Before I watched the movie, if someone had asked me, "Will the supply of oil dwindle in the future?" I would have answered, "yes". It's just that this movie is so well-done, it puts into perspective--and not over-dramatically, either--so well what that ACTUALLY MEANS for the future of humanity, that it very much impacted the way I think about everything--about our past, our present and our future. I think that everyone who is capable of understanding the contents should watch this movie. There are plenty of things to "worry about", and plenty of "disaster movies" to watch, for those who are inclined to worry. Probably the chief contender for future problems is climate change. But "A Crude Awakening" has topped anything I've watched about climate change, in terms of how I think about where the world is headed. That's because while climate change is, I believe, already happening and will continue to accelerate, mankind as a whole is likely to feel a major impact from oil shortage, before we feel major impact from climate change. And the two topics are interrelated of course; the more we burn fossil fuels, the more CO2 we add to the environment. Anyhow--this movie affected my thinking so much, I personally have gotten more than 20 other people to watch the film. By comparison I didn't promote "An Inconvenient Truth" to anybody, although it was a well-done film.
WATCH THIS MOVIE. It does not matter what your politics are, you should hear what the speakers have to say about oil. The dot-com crash, the housing-market crash, the financial institutions crash--all of these things were completely obvious AFTER THE FACT--yet almost nobody seemed to see them coming BEFOREHAND. There will be an oil-supply crash too. Understand the implications of this for your future. Watch this movie. I cannot overrate the film.
Summary of A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash
An unforgettable and shocking wake-up call, A CRUDE AWAKENING offers the rock-solid argument that the era of cheap oil is in the past. Relentless and clear-eyed, this intensively-researched film drills deep into the uncomfortable realities of a world that is both addicted to fossil fuels and blissfully unaware of the looming "peak oil" crisis. Drawing on an international cast of maverick energy experts and thinkers, directors Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack debunk the conventional wisdom that oil production will continue to climb, and instead stare bleakly at a planet facing economic meltdown and conflict over its most valuable resource. Featuring a haunting score by Phillip Glass and a fascinating array of rare archival footage, the film explores oil's rocky relationship with human progress in locales ranging from ancient Baku, Azerbaijan to dusty oilpatch town McCamey, Texas.? Amidst a dark and disturbing vision of our future, A CRUDE AWAKENING hints at a humbler way of life built around sustainability and alternative energy, providing a visually stunning, boldly prophetic testament which provokes not just thought but action.Q&A with Basil Gelpke
1. What inspired you to make this film?
I thought it was the most underreported burning issue at the time when we embarked on the project back in 2005.
2. What kind of response have you encountered from audiences who've seen it?
We've got a lot of feedback: Either people would deny our conclusion or they would see the film as an eye-opener.
3. What, if anything, do you think has changed since you made the film about the oil situation?
The current financial crisis has lowered the overall consumption but it's interesting to see that not very much as oil consumption is so vital to our societies. While demand goes down in the US it's still increasing in places like China.
4. Do you feel that the high price of gas last year and the current economic crisis has changed our oil addiction?
Yes, and I think there's a growing consensus that we have to change our dependence on imported energy and now there's a remarkable push to look for alternative sources of energy.
5. How much do you think things have changed now that there is a new administration in the White House?
The Obama administration is definitely very aware of the issue and they have taken lots of promising steps to change our addiction to oil and fossil fuels in general. Whether they'll be successful remains to be seen but it's certainly going into the right direction.
6. Can you discuss your decision to use animation and archival footage that sings the praises of oil?
It seemed a good way to show how perceptions change over time and how we're all conditioned by history.
7. The score by Philip Glass is remarkable. What made you choose him for the film?
Yes, we love his work too!
8. Faced with the alarming future shown in the film, what, if any, is your hope for curing our addiction to oil?
There's always hope. However, I strongly believe that when the financial crisis has subsided there will be a next crisis caused by nature: The dwindling resources of the planet simply can't satisfy the ever increasing demand arising from a growing population. So over time we'll have to rethink our way of life.
While the previous eco-doc Who Killed the Electric Car? spent some time on the world's oil crisis, A Crude Awakening (formerly OilCrash) builds an entire film around the subject. Swiss journalist Basil Gelpke and Irish filmmaker Ray McCormack have constructed their narrative in a conventional manner, alternating between talking heads, archival footage, and modern-day material, but the addition of several pieces by Phillip Glass is an artful touch (and evokes his work on 1988's The Thin Blue Line). Throughout, a diverse array of experts from the U.S., Azerbaijan, Venezuela, and other countries explain how the 20th century became addicted to "the blood of the dinosaurs," and why contemporary society needs to change course. As attorney/activist Matthew David Savinar puts it, "Oil is our God." As Stanford professor Terry Lynn Karl adds, "More and more oil is going to come from less and less stable places...places that actually challenge the taking of oil in the first place." One of the more chilling revelations concerns the discrepancy between the reserves oil-producing nations claim they possess and the actual amount. These padded estimates allow them to drill with impunity, leading to an abundance of wealth in the short term and cataclysmic consequences once they've depleted their supply of this non-renewable resource. A Crude Awakening isn't exactly a day-brightener, but Gelpke and McCormack are comprehensive and impartial in their inquiry, which makes for an informative examination of a vitally important subject. Extras include extended interviews with four participants and bonus chapter Petrostates. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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