Film Journal International calls it “A rapturous nightmare.”
Maybe it’s the despairer in me, but that contends for favorite three-word review. Here are excerpts from Chris Barsanti’s review…
A documentary that looks like an art-house film, The Unforeseen wields its impressive cinematography and poetic narrative form (Wendell Berry provides appropriately ruminative narration) to make a strong case that the country as a whole is cutting itself off from the natural world with frightening speed. The camera glides through endless construction sites and hovers over the octopus-armed suburban developments with a cool dread. All the while, these montages of a deadening, choking future are contrasted with crystalline underwater images. The spirit of Terrence Malick—who serves as executive producer here—is everywhere in the film, from its dreamy evocation of nature’s small miracles to the humane treatment of those who in normal circumstances would be viewed as villains.
One of the great documentaries of our time, The Unforeseen is a rapturous nightmare.
Read the full review here.
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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.