So wickedly good

A doco about the work of photographer Ed Burtynsky. Burtynsky uses large format photography to document environments where human industry has created completely new "landscapes" - the kind of environment-forming previously only achieved by natural forces. Working mostly in China and parts of Asia, his subjects include electrical assembly rooms so massive they appear to extend to infinity, the infamous Chittagong ship-breaking yards and the preparation for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. In this last piece, the film shows how some of the million residents forced to relocate were hired to destroy their former homes and offices brick by brick to make room for the ships which will be traveling overhead when the valley is finally flooded.

The photographs feature incredibly fine detail and massive scale. Attempting to show both detail and scale on the big screen, many of the finished photographs are shown at full magnification, then the view zooms back to reveal the whole image; this is about the best that can be done with the limited resolution of cinema. Burtynsky states that his work is not intended as criticism, merely to document and educate. One point that stuck with me after the viewing was how many appliances and components are still assembled by hand. Things like clothing irons, circuit breakers, fluid valves - things used and sold by the hundreds of millions - things we assume are all produced by mindless robots are in fact still put together by young Chinese assembly line workers, one at a time. Again the scale is revealed by seeing one breaker assembled, then realising how many millions or billions of times that scene is multiplied to supply the world market.

The opening scene pans past row after row of assembly workers and after 5 minutes feels like it will never end - perhaps mirroring the thoughts of the workers there, but it's a painful beginning to a documentary. Thankfully the rest of the film proceeds at a fair pace. It was great to see the ship building and ship breaking yards in video, having only seen them as still photos before. The Three Gorges Dam part barely touched on the current environment, focusing instead on the destruction of the human environment pre-flood which is a pity, aesthetically, but did show me something I had been ignorant of before.

.. diminishes the importance of food, it promises to fulfill your lowest expectations and knowingly and in a calculated way, delivers on that promise, reliably and most importantly, consistently.

So sayeth Anthony Bourdain.

These guys can do no wrong. Will add to this list as I remember others.

Susanne Bier
* Brødre aka Brothers
* Efter brylluppet aka After The Wedding

Michael Mann
* Heat
* Collateral
* Miami Vice (yes, really - it grows on you!)