Review of Chasing Ice (2012) by Jim H — 12 Jun 2013

Photographer James Balog sets up cameras to document the disappearance of glaciers.

Most documentaries about global warming and other such social problems take an alarmist stance and quickly become so over-bearing in their message that I find myself saying, "Yes, yes, we're all going to die. I understand. Ho hum." But the film's focus on the process of setting up the cameras and Balog's courageousness makes it more about the process than pounding depressing evidence into my head.

Balog's photographs are striking. They're beautifully tragic, just as they are intended to be.

Overall, this is a good documentary about an important social problem, and its strength is that it doesn't try to beat the shit out of any happiness you might still be able to muster.