Review of The 11th Hour (2007) by Iamhea. — 25 Aug 2007

If you want to see exactly what is missing from this film, go to your favorite video site and search for "Vandana Shiva." Shiva has spent a lifetime building people's movements to take back rights to water and other critical resources that have been usurped by corporations for private gain.

In the 11th hour, Shiva's face flashes across the screen for a split second, but not a single word from her can be heard. This is emblematic of the fact that the leaders of anti-corporate movements throughout the world, as such, have no voice in this film.

You do hear from some activists, such as Wangari Maathai, but only as talking head "experts" on the subject of our planetary demise, not as leaders of movements intended to actually do something about it.

Although the film makes the point that political, rather than technical, approaches are the most important and difficult part of any true solution, the solutions presented as examples are almost entirely of a technical nature, with an emphasis on consumer choices rather than upon collective organizing and action.

While the film does present the seriousness of the unfolding calamity, without viable political approaches the effect may be to paralyze rather than to awaken.