Filmcritic.com - The Best Unreleased films of 2007
The film got this recent writeup from Filmcritic.com.
11. The Unforeseen - Fellow critic Chris Barsanti aptly defined Laura Dunn’s sublime documentary as “more elegy than position paper” in his coverage of 2007’s Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The same can be said about the work of the film’s most prominent producers: Terrance Malick and Robert Redford. In telling the story of land developers in Austin, Texas and the Biblical struggle over the area known as Barton Springs, Dunn’s magnificently visual feature-length debut sidesteps grandstanding and ventures for a more personal brand of political portrayal. The eye of the storm centers on a greedy (not evil) land developer who lost all his money and pride on the project while the large corporations backing him went onto their next pet project. Texan talking heads range from lobbyists for both sides of the aisle to Willie Nelson to Redford himself putting in their two cents on the issue but they are tapestries for all intents and purposes. Ultimately, it’s Dunn’s use of imagery, working with cinematographer Lee Daniel (a frequent collaborator of Richard Linklater), which edges The Unforeseen into the select lineage of environmental documentaries that transcend both environmentalism and documentary filmmaking.
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About The Unforeseen
The Unforeseen, executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Called "the best film at the festival, hands down" by Film Comment's Gavin Smith, the film documents the struggles between development and preservation of Austin Texas.