Denver Film Festival
The Unforeseen
USA, 2007, 94 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Documentary, Political
Language: English
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Taking its title from a line in a Wendell Berry poem, The Unforeseen springboards from Berry’s description of the wilderness as “a sort of blessing, by the face of its unexpectedness.” When West Texas farm boy-turned-real estate tycoon Gary Bradley attempts to trade that blessing for profit from the suburban subdivision he’s planning, an environmental battle ensues among Austin residents, who step up to protect their pristine hill country from development – particularly Barton Springs, a fragile limestone aquifer that has served as a local swimming hole for generations. Sharing his own memories of the springs with director Laura Dunn, Robert Redford (who, along with Terrence Malick, serves as executive producer) articulates the film’s main point: that Austin is actually a microcosm of America itself, representing every community that aims to preserve its natural resources in the face of seemingly unstoppable growth. Dunn also talks, in one of the political icon’s last interviews, with late Texas governor Ann Richards about the related debate over private property rights that paved the path to power for Richards’ nemesis, George W. Bush.
Yet Dunn is no propagandist but a meticulous documentarian, and The Unforeseen doesn’t hesitate to tell both sides of the story. Rather than vilifying Bradley, Dunn traces both his dramatic rise from poverty to wealth and his poignant fall amid bad press and the failure of many of his get-rich-quick schemes.
Like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, The Unforeseen contemplates the implications of human behavior for the future of the planet. But unlike the sometimes didactic Gore, Dunn convinces via lyricism, incorporating poetic voice-over narration, mesmerizing motion graphics and aerial photography (in one instance comparing Austin’s sprawl to a cancerous tumor). While the hard evidence it presents yields a strong case for conservation, The Unforeseen makes its most lasting impression via its haunting visuals.
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