Some people don’t like Greta Thunberg do they. I don’t really feel like I know enough about her. Hence wanting to watch this. Whether you can engage with this or not, I’d say depends on whether you think global warming is real or not. If you don’t you should watch this with at least an open mind. If that still doesn’t sound like you, I’d say you’re part of the problem and I’d like to tell you to fuck off. That’s not Greta though. She’s not impatient like me. She’s calm, compassionate, understanding and really quite remarkable. Surely most people by now know who she is, but in case you don’t, she’s a Swedish schoolgirl aged 15, at the time of recording. By the time we’re done she’s 16, with this film covering a mind boggling year. It’s easy to watch her giving speeches on TV and forget how young she is and the fragility that exists in us all at that age. There’s a inner focus though, a determination. She pulls no punches regarding her Aspergers and her depression brought on by her learning of the extent of the damage we’re doing to the climate. She’s now heralded as a global campaigner, an icon with huge influence, but there’s no preening for the limelight here. It’s a calling. This documentary follows Thunberg from her protest outside Swedish Parliament, speaking in front of the UN in Poland, EU Parliament in Belgium, The Pope, dressing down the Houses of Parliament, effortlessly telling Macron what his responsibilities are and sailing across The Atlantic to a convention in New York, because it’s more environmentally sound than flying. Let that sink in for a minute. Weeks on a boat... and weeks back. That’s worthy of a film in its own right. But it also focus’s on her as a person, her family, particularly her father, who although ever present, clearly is simply her chaperone, her protector, looking out for his daughter. The ideas are hers, the drive is hers. She sees the world for what it is and to many politicians, a game, one they wish to win by attempting to discredit and destroy anything that upsets the balance they’ve decided is right, including Greta. There’s a huge amount of pressure and it clearly weighs on her. It’s brutally honest. I hate public speaking, it’s remarkable to watch her do it fearlessly with such ease. Especially not pulling any punches as she does. The message is simple, direct, aggressive. She’s aware that she’s used as a pawn though, a poster child, a sound bite. Invite her along, make it look like we’re engaging. The details matter to her though. Words are just that, the promises need backing up. Action must be taken. She’s the calm at the eye of the storm swirling around her. She sees the simplicity of her role. Using her profile, through the media, to deliver the message that we need to reduce deforestation, reduce burning fossil fuels, reduce travel emissions. Some people don’t like Greta, watch this and tell me she’s anything other than remarkably wonderful. There is hope. It’s not the best documentary in fairness (6/10), but for it’s content it gets...
10/10
