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environmentalism

Dark Circle – 40 years later, still matters.

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Does a nearly forty year old documentary still hold relevance? A newly restored HD version of Dark Circle is streaming on various outlets. The film, directed by Christopher Beaver, Judy Irving, and Ruth Landry, was shortlisted for Oscar consideration in 1983 and won an Emmy in 1989, when it finally made it to PBS as part of the POV series.

The film’s focus is plutonium—the byproduct of nuclear power generation and a key component of nuclear weapons. Plutonium is also a very dangerous contaminant. Even minute amounts can cause mutations and cancers that may take years to show up. The film moves between the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado and the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant that was being constructed in California. (Since the film was made, the Rocky Flats facility has been closed and is the sight of a massive “superfund” cleanup, and the Diablo Canyon plant is in the process of closing.)

Worker holds highly radioactive plutonium button, the trigger for nuclear
weapons, in glovebox. (stock footage, public domain, still from movie)

The idea in making the film was not to search out experts or politicians, but to turn the camera on some of those most affected. In Colorado we meet a mother who worries about the ground contamination from the nearby Rocky Flats plant. When they bought the house, no one told them about the plant or about the contamination. In California we meet activists who are trying to stop the construction of the plant noting safety considerations.

The film also ventures to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to recall the human toll of the bombings of those cities, and also some of the experiments that the US military conducted with soldiers, many of whom later developed cancers (few of which the government would admit to being responsible for).

In some ways, I see the film as a bit of a time capsule. The world was much different forty years ago. This is in the midst of the Cold War with its theoretical underpinning of mutual assured destruction. We were continuing to build our stockpile of nuclear weapons. The Rocky Flats plant was turning out three new plutonium detonators a day. Nuclear power was not in its infancy, but it was still new enough to raise concerns. (That is not to say it still doesn’t. In fact, we probably have even more concerns now as then.)

Anti-nuclear activists from San Luis Obispo look at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, under construction in 1980 on an active earthquake fault. © Karen Spangenberg

Yet the film continues to speak, even though the filmmakers may not have been aware at the time of all the issues involved. Although we have reduced our nuclear arsenal, there are now other countries—including North Korea and Iraq—that have developed their own nuclear programs. After Fukushima, the world has a better picture of what kinds of catastrophes nuclear power can bring.

But perhaps the most relevant part of the film is the look at the business behind the nuclear power and defense programs. The film shows how the military-industrial complex worked to override concerns citizens had. The government, supposedly responsible to the people, was unresponsive to those who raised issues about contamination or construction problems. If the film were made today, it might talk of “corporatocracy” and the way corporations wield power over the government. (Note: one of the reasons it took seven years for the film to make it to PBS was that the filmmakers refused to remove a section that named the companies involved.)

It would have been helpful for the filmmakers to make a short update to tack on the end of the film to show the ways things have changed and remained the same. One of the new issues is that as we try to move away from fossil fuels, there is a new push for more nuclear power. It is hard to be completely anti-nuke, but it is also hard to accept it.

Dark Circle begins streaming on Apple TV, iTunes, and Amazon March 30,

Photos courtesy of First Run Features.

First Reformed – A Pastor’s Dark Night of the Soul

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“Will God forgive us?”

A pastor’s grief, guilt, and growing crisis of faith gives rise to First Reformed, from writer-director Paul Schrader. Schrader has delved into faith before in films like Hardcore and The Last Temptation of Christ (for which he wrote the screenplay). He has also sought to plumb the dark places of life with scripts such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. In First Reformed all of this comes together.

Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of a historic church in upstate New York. It is now little more than a tourist stop with a very small congregation. The church operates under the auspices of a nearby megachurch, Abundant Life. After church one Sunday, Mary (Amanda Seyfried), asks Toller to counsel her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) who is severely depressed over environmental issues. Although Toller tries to lead Michael to see hope, eventually Michael succumbs to his despair. This adds to Toller’s already dark mood.

Toller had been a military chaplain and had encouraged his son to go into the military as well. After his son was killed in Iraq, Toller has lived with guilt and seems to be trying to live a life of penance. He lives a Spartan existence and seems to put off any who would seek to care for him—especially the choir director at Abundant Live (Victoria Hill) who carries a torch for him. The only person he can find any connection with in his world of darkness is Mary. As Toller’s mood continues to spiral down and his health seems to be failing as well, he decides to take a drastic action to bring attention to the environmental issues that concerned Michael.

At one level, First Reformed is a study of a crisis in faith faced by an individual. Toller’s struggle with guilt over his son, a pessimism about where the world is headed, and his failure to find happiness in life seems to have cut Toller off from any sense of God. As he journals (which we often hear in voice over) Toller says the things he writes are much like the things he says to God “when he is listening.” Through all this he must continue to serve the church week after week.

But this film also raises the question of how is the church to act faithfully in a world facing crises. Toller’s little church is about to celebrate its 250th anniversary and Abundant Life is planning a big event. One of the biggest donors is Edward Balq, an industrialist who doesn’t want global warming or the environment talked about. He wants to make sure politics are avoided in the anniversary celebration. Toller is beginning to question how the church cannot be involved in such issues. It falls on Abundant Life senior pastor, Pastor Jeffers (Cedric Kyles) to try to keep Toller in line.

What of the question of political issues in church? It should be noted that First Reformed was a waystation on the Underground Railroad. Obviously political issues have mattered here in the past. But Jeffers, although appreciating where Toller is coming from, must also try to appease those who give generously to the church. This can often be a struggle for those who believe that God’s message speaks to many of the woes that face the world. There are always those who do not want the prophetic voice of the church to be heard.

Pastor Toller’s spiritual anguish, I think, is an exaggeration of a malaise that afflicts much of the church and society. It is not a lack of faith (either for Toller or the church at large). We become so overwhelmed by the griefs and pains of life that we feel paralyzed to address the deep needs of the world around us. After all, we can barely deal with our own problems as we watch the church seeming to be in a death spiral of its own and society falling apart in anger, crudeness, and incivility. This film speaks to the struggle of how to live out the faith we hold to in a time that challenges our faith and values.

Photos courtesy of A24

When Film Confronts Faith: 1on1 with Paul Schrader (FIRST REFORMED)

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Written and directed by the legendary Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ), First Reformedtells the story of Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke), a pastor of a small church in upstate New York. After an encounter with an unstable congregant and his pregnant wife leaves him shaken, Toller finds himself embroiled in an environmental controversy that involves the local megachurch. His faith waning and his body slowly succumbing to illness and addiction, Toller is forced to re-examine all of his beliefs and how they connect in today’s culture. Having grown up within the church setting, Schrader believes that his upbringing has often affected how he interacts with cinema.

“I was raised in the church, a product of Christian school system. So, we didn’t see movies. Those weren’t allowed. So, I got sort of interested in movies at the college level and, [more specifically,] serious movies like European cinema of the sixties, and Bergman. That’s sort of how I got interested. I wrote a book [titled Transcendence in Film] about spirituality in cinema at that time because I was a film critic. Then, I drifted into the commercial cinema and got obsessed with the attractions of action, empathy and psychological realism of sexuality and made movies in that vein and did the devil’s work for many decades.”

Despite his upbringing within the church, Schrader has never been interested in delving into his spiritual history onscreen. However, once his mind was changed, he also felt that the First Reformed came together quite quickly.

“I never thought I would make a spiritual film,” he claims. “I never did. People would ask about it and I said, no, I’m not gonna go there… Now, [though] you can afford to do these kinds of films. In the past, I couldn’t afford to do it. It wouldn’t be cost effective to make this kind of film in America… I knew it was time to turn [my] hand to write a spiritual film. Once I made that decision, then the particulars of the film started coming into my mind. I drew upon the films in the genre that I had known and loved and then sort of glued them together with the glue of Taxi Driver”.

With this in mind, one of Schrader’s deep passions remains the exploration of spirituality in film. While many associate this idea with either basic ‘faith-based’ movies or religious themes within their narratives, he believes that genuine transcendent filmmaking goes much deeper than that by inviting the viewer to meditate upon the moment.

“When you talk about spirituality in film (which is different than religion), you’re talking about withholding devices. You’re talking about devices that come from the field of contemplation and meditation. There is no fast way to meditate. That’s when you start pulling away from the viewer, withholding certain things that they expect, [whether it’s] cutting patterns, music, all of this stuff. [When you do that], you’re inviting them to lean forward. A normal movie is all over you and desperate for your attention. It has its hands all over your body, on your throat, and saying, ‘Love me, love me. Here’s some music. You’ll love this music. There were some cool shots. Here’s a pretty girl. Here’s a fast car. Have an explosion. Love me, love me, love me!’ It’s exhausting and you don’t have to do a thing.”

“Now, you get the opposite kind of feeling with holy film. It’s leaning away from you. It’s saying, ‘I know you think you’re going to see this, but you’re not. I know you think that when a character walks off street, you’re going to see where they go, well, maybe you’re not. Maybe we’re going to just watch the empty room for a while.’ Even when nothing is happening, something is happening because the viewer is watching and it’s something that’s happening inside of the viewer.”

In light of this, Schrader argues that this sense of spiritual challenge to the viewer remains front and center in First Reformed.

“[For example], if you use a classic holding device like when somebody walks out the door, the door closes, breaks down, we go one, two, three now you’re… Your eye never does that. But you’re in a movie theater and the guy says, okay, let’s watch the door for a few seconds before we do something else. Well, what’s going on in your head? So that is how you start playing that passive aggressive game, getting them to lean forward. And the dangerous line you dance on is when you start using these was holding devices. If you are, [the viewer] can do one of two things: he can start to lean in toward you (in which case you’ve got your goal) or he can get up and leave the theater. So, if you look at the way that First Reformedopens, it’s almost saying to you, ‘If you’re not ready for this, would you please leave right now?’If it’s going to be too slow for you, just leave now and let the rest of us stay.”

With Reformed, Schrader’s exploration of spirituality challenges the viewer, not only through its style, but also its themes. For instance, whereas many films about the church opt to place their emphasis in hope through faith, Reformedinstead chooses not to shy away from Toller’s own failing faith and the impact it has on his ministry. According to Schrader, it was this sense of spiritual blockage that he was most interested in exploring throughout the film.

“He has a sickness and it’s a sickness unto death or despair,” he explains. “He tells that kid, ‘The problem is your despair’ but he’s really talking about himself. He can’t communicate with God. He’s trying various things like writing a journal, the rituals of the church, alcohol, prayer and then he picks up this nasty virus. Whether or not he’s actually an eco-warrior, I’m not sure. Maybe he’s just a diseased man who was looking for a cause.”

Of course, given the subject matters pointedness towards the deficiencies of the modern church system in their faith and response to current global issues. When asked whether or not he believes the church is missing something in today’s society, Schrader argues that this is absolutely the case.

“Of course, they are,” he asserts. “There’s a quote from John Lennon that says, ‘I don’t like God much once they get them under a roof.’ That’s the difference between spirituality and religion in the church. The moment you have a building and a membership and dues and uniforms and a hierarchy and organization, you [become] a kind of corporate structure. You have a budget. You have real estate and you have taxes. How do you combine the message of the gospel of Jesus with the obligations of running a corporation? That’s always been the difficulty. You have a big corporation. You have a sponsor, who is a polluter. Sometimes, you have to live in the real world. Geoffrey says ‘You don’t live real world. You’re a pastor of a church no one attends.’”

For full audio of our conversation with Paul Schrader, click here.

First Reformed was released in theatres on Friday, May 18th, 2018.

 

mother!: A Metaphor for Creation

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Directed by Darren Aronofsky, mother! brings us into the heart of the fractured marriage of Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and Man (Javier Bardem).  A poet who suffers from writer’s block, Bardem is distant and cold as he sweats over his pages, praying for inspiration.  Meanwhile, as her husband focuses his energy on his work, Lawrence’s Mother invest her time meticulously rebuilding their home after a recent fire burnt it to the ground.  However, when a mysterious visitor arrives in the middle of the night, Bardem invites the stranger into their home (without consulting his bride).  As a result of the invitation, the presence of the visitor (and those that come after) begins to destroy their marriage and, potentially, their home as well.

In mother!, it should be no surprise that Lawrence provides the right mixture of stability and chaos while Bardem appears as menacingly as ever.  Nevertheless, the real visionary behind the narrative is writer/director Darren Aronofsky.  While the marketing would have you believe that the film is a straight up ‘home invasion’ thriller, that’s not entirely true.  As with previous Aronovsky pieces, such as Black Swan and Noah, the film begins using traditional genre tropes and undermines them as the film progresses.  As a result, mother! comes across as more of an art-house piece than blockbuster thriller.  Visually stunning and filled with metaphors from the films first frame to the last, mother! is the type of film that may leave the casual ticket buyer baffled, unless they’re really interested in exploring Aronovsky’s deeper messages.

In many ways, mother! is a natural follow-up to Noah, Aronovsky’s controversial Biblical epic.  Serving as a metaphor for environmental disaster, mother! also delves deeply into spiritual metaphor and man’s relationship with an arrogant God.  As the film unravels, the relationship between Lawrence and Bardem becomes increasingly visual as they explore the religious significance of the apparent priority that God places on humanity over his first love, Creation. While Lawrence obsesses over trying to build her home and keep it beautiful, Bardem’s unnamed character is disinterested in her passions (and personally) as he broods about his inability to create His way.  His love for his fans begins with a welcome of ‘the first family’ and becomes increasingly unreasonable as he constantly defends the actions of those who have come to worship him yet destroy the home in the process.  In other words, unlike the vengeful (and almost random) God of Noah, mother! portrays God as more self-absorbed, feeding off the worship of his followers regardless of their recklessness.  (In fact, in mother!, the viewer begs Bardem to hold the people accountable for their actions, an irony considered that Noah depicts God as unreasonably ruthless.)

As a pastor, I recognize that Aronofsky is addressing some key spiritual questions in the midst of the carnage. Does God care about his creation at all, given that his people do not?  Is his view of worship (which the church acknowledges is to give Him glory) about merely feeding his own ego or something more profound? While Aronofsky speaks of the things of God, he often seems to fall on the more negative side of the conversation (again, see Noah), however, he also shows his interest in exploring the significance of meaning of the Biblical narrative.

But be warned.  mother! is a fierce and unrelenting beast of a Creation metaphor that not only wants you to feel uncomfortable.  It wants you to live there.

Special features include behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the film and the special effects of the makeup.

4.02 The Heart of the mother!

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When director Darren Aronofsky releases a film, it’s often bound to court controversy.  Blending an environmental message and Biblical metaphor, mother! instantly divided audiences between those that loathed its excessiveness and those that loved and respected its ambition.  This week, Steve welcomes ScreenFish guppies Ben Dower and Andrew Eaton as they tackle Aronofsky’s complicated vision by discussing its portrayal of God, the meaning of love and… um… Taylor Swift.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

4.04 mother!

Thanks Ben and Andrew for coming on the show!

Company Town – Irresponsible Capitalism

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“One of our country’s largest private companies is proudly built on American values and skills.” (from a promotional video for Koch Industries)

Crossett, Arkansas bills itself as the “Forestry Capital of the South”. It’s a small community, but it is home to a Georgia-Pacific paper mill. Georgia-Pacific is owned by Koch Industries (which is owned by Charles and David Koch, among the wealthiest men in America). Many of the people in Crossett either work at Georgia-Pacific or have relatives who work there. The economy of the plant pretty much dominates the town. But the plant is also a major polluter and perhaps a serious health problem for those in Crossett. Company Town is an exposé of not only the company’s practices, but also of the impotence of the government agencies we rely on to prevent such problems.

The film alternates between looking at the company and the way the filmmakers say the company skirts or ignores the law, and being a personal story of those who live in Crossett and are trying to change things. Central to the personal side of the story is Pastor David Bouie. As he walks down the street he lives on, he points out all the houses where someone had cancer. As he puts it, it is “door- to-door cancer”. Eleven of the sixteen houses have had at least one person with cancer. Pastor Bouie is the local leader who is speaking out and trying to bring some sense of justice to the situation. But it is a very hard battle.

But it isn’t just Georgia-Pacific that is the target of this documentary. The film also looks at the Environmental Protection Agency and its failure or inability to enforce environmental laws. (It is noted in the film that the Koch brothers have been vocal about wanting the EPA eliminated—and they have been very politically active.) There is a certain amount of buck passing between EPA and the state agency (the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality) over who is actually responsible for enforcement. Although people from EPA and ADEQ come to listen, it seems there is little they are actually able (or willing) to do. Pastor Bouie and others are diligent about keeping Crossett and its problems on the agencies agendas, but make very little progress.

I was intrigued by the line from the Koch Industries promo that was excerpted in the film. The claim to be “built on American values” sounds wonderful, but what values do we see the company exhibiting in this film? This is a plant that creates 45 million gallons of waste water per day. The open, unlined trenches and ponds that hold this water do not protect the people of Crossett from various harmful chemicals. When we hear some who took part in illegal dumping, we know that there may well be more issues to deal with for many years. And in reality, although Koch Industries is the focus of this story, they are not alone in such practices. As one of the whistleblowers in the film puts it, “What G-P is about is making the almighty dollar at whatever expense. Indeed, that may be the basic American value of this and many other companies.

First Reformed: Is Church Relevant?

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“Will God forgive us?” — Toller (Ethan Hawke, First Reformed)

First Reformed tells the story of Toller (Ethan Hawke), a former military veteran and pastor of the First Reformed Church.  Preparing to celebrate their 250th anniversary, the church has become largely ceremonial, with most parishioners having moved over to the local megachurch, led by charismatic Pastor Jeffries (Cedric the Entertainer).  A former military veteran and father to a deceased child, Toller seeks desperately to ‘feel alive’ again in his ministry and finds himself called to the home of a suicidal parishioner for counselling.  When tragedy strikes, Toller finds himself torn between counseling the victim’s grieving widow (Amanda Seyfried) and his own creeping personal issues.

Written and directed by the legendary Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Afflicted), First Reformed reveals the hidden realities of church ministry, ugliness and all.  As Toller, Hawke offers a strong but subtle performance, portraying him as both warm and broken.  He is a man who is constantly ‘in the garden’ of suffering, emotionally and physically, clinging to a faith that seems irrelevant to the culture in which he lives.

However, in the death of his parishioner, he finds new life as he begins to question what it means to express his faith in the 21st Century.  By re-examining his passions and calling, Toller’s crisis of faith leads him into conflict with established religion, eventually putting him at odds with his friend, Pastor Jeffries.  Focused on massive budgets and state-of-the-art technology, Jeffries’ megachurch provides a fascinating contrast to Toller and First Reformed by showcasing the potential hypocrisy of the ‘ministry as big business’ mentality.  While Jeffries speaks of meeting with people of importance and spectacle, Toller demonstrates an increasingly deeper interest in justice issues such as the Underground Railroad and environmental conservation.  This juxtaposition of ideologies highlights the dangers of ‘cultural spirituality’ and begs the question of where the church’s responsibility lies today.  As the film goes on, Toller increasingly agonizes over important cultural issues, to the extent that he wonders if God will forgive us for our selfishness.

In light of this, First Reformed plays out as both call to the church and challenge to it as well.  Schrader’s script depicts the angst of one who clearly wishes the church will come alive by recognizing its potential role to affect change in our world.  As a result, First Reformed portrays the church as both hopeful and irrelevant by highlighting the lack of interest in social issues in favor of spiritual entertainment.  Broken by his personal history, Toller’s journey also reveals the impact that a person (or church) can have to affect change but also questions to what lengths they must go to do so.

For audio of our interview with writer/director Paul Schrader, listen below:

For audio of our interview with Cedric the Entertainer, listen below:

The Red Turtle – Mythic, Poetic Story of Humanity

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It is rare that a film can seem to be poetry, and that may be even more difficult when the film has no dialogue. Yet The Red Turtle manages to be just that. It certainly has the elements of myth and legend, but it is at its core the story of humanity as seen in a man and the life that he lives out in a self-contained world.

Dutch animator Michael Dudok De Wit’s Oscar winning animated short Father and Daughter (2000) so impressed Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, that he was invited to be the first non-Japanese director to make a film for the studio. And so began a multinational collaboration that has yielded a beautiful and moving film. The animation is somewhat different than we often find in Studio Ghibli films, but it has a beauty and power of its own.

redturtle1-copy

[Synopsis includes material that might be considered spoilers, but only mildly.]

The film opens with a man tumbling about in a stormy sea. He eventually finds his way to the shore of a deserted tropical island. As he explores he discovers there is ample fruit and fresh water. But he begins to build a raft to head back to the larger world. But a giant red sea turtle keeps breaking apart the raft. When the turtle comes ashore, the man’s anger gets the best of him. He flips the turtle to its back to kill it. Yet through some mystery, the turtle is transformed, and so too is the man’s life.

After killing the turtle, the man has remorse and tries to save it. But to his surprise the carapace splits open and a woman’s body has replaced the turtle’s. He cares for the woman who soon becomes his companion on the island. They have a son who has a special affinity with the turtles. The various events that make up human life play out through the years.

[End of spoilers]

The story gives no hint to the time this may be happening or the man’s origin. In essence he is not so much a man as Man. As the film plays out he has times of joy and sorrow. He faces trials, but he also experiences a fullness of life.

Of course the first story brought to mind is Robinson Caruso, but that would be to oversimplify this film. Robinson Caruso is a story of a man overcoming his environment—of establishing a kind of dominion over nature. That is not the case with The Red Turtle. Instead we go through a discovery process that is not about man versus nature, but rather man within nature.

Fusion x64 TIFF File

The film also invokes the biblical story of Eden (and other creation myths). What does it mean to live one’s life in what might be seen as a paradise (or as a prison). In the Eden story Adam is entrusted with the Garden. In this story it seems much more like the man is entrusted to the island.

Studio Ghibli films almost always have a strong ecological element. This story is certainly a part of that tradition. The island is a wonderful ecosystem of plants, birds, crabs (the slightly comedic element of the film), and the sea that surrounds it. The man is an interloper to this place. To what extent will his presence enhance or diminish the balance of nature? When he builds rafts, most of the materials are dead plants, so he’s not destroying things. He takes advantage of various things he can scavenge. His fishing is not enough to harm things. So he generally is not the menace to the environment that humankind has been in recent decades. Rather, he seems to fit into this setting—especially after the turtle’s transformation. Whereas originally the man is a foreigner, as time passes we see that he is at home in this setting. This is his ecosystem.

This is a film rich in possibilities for further consideration. We might wonder what it means to be human in a natural world by comparing this man to the biblical Adam. What does it mean to “have dominion” over creation, as Genesis puts it, and how is that different than the way this man relates to the environment? Or we might consider what it is that makes for a good and happy life? How do the catastrophes of life (such as being shipwrecked) shape our lives and how do we find happiness in the aftermath of tragedy? What is the role of other people in making our lives content?

Special features on the Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack include comentary by de Wit, the Q&A at AFI Fest, and two featurettes, “The Birth of the Red Turtle” and “The Secrets of the Red Turtle.”

Pete’s Dragon – A World of Wonder

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“Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“Just because you say it’s true doesn’t mean it is.”

Pete’s Dragon really isn’t a remake of the 1977 Disney live action/animation musical. Disney is calling it a reimagining of the story. The only similarities are the title and the basic premise of a boy and his dragon. This is a totally different story with new setting and characters. In place of a dopey looking, amiable animated dragon is a slightly less dopey looking, amiable CG dragon (who has shaggy fur, not scales).

When Pete is five, he is traveling with his parents on an “adventure” in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. A car accident leaves him orphaned and alone in the forest. He is rescued and taken in by a dragon that lives in the woods. Then the story skips ahead six years.

There is local lore about a dragon living in the forest, mostly based on accounts of Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), who has been telling children what seems to be a tall tale for many years. His daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a forest ranger who has never seen the dragon in all her years in the woods and claims there is nothing to them.

Meanwhile, Pete (Oakes Fegley) and the dragon (whom he calls Eliot because of the book he had with him and has read over and over through the years) have been living an idyllic existence. It is not so much a parent child relationship as that of a boy and his dog (take your pick which character is in which role). They frolic and play. Think of Pete as another version of Mowgli from Jungle Book. Pete and Eliot are both alone—the only ones of their kinds that they know of—so they form a kind of family.

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One day, loggers are working in the area when the boss’s daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence) sees him and goes into the forest after him. Soon, Pete is caught and brought to town where Grace and Natalie’s father Jack (Wes Bentley) care for him. Pete just wants to go home to Eliot. Meanwhile, some of the loggers have set out to find and capture Eliot. Eliot and those who support him and the loggers all converge on Eliot about the same time, which leads to Eliot’s capture. Soon it will require all Pete and his new friends can do to rescue the dragon who first rescued Pete.

There are three themes worth noting in the film. The film has a slight (maybe too slight) environmental message. The forest is a place of wonder. Grace loves the woods and does everything she can to protect it. Jack (with whom Grace has a relationship) seeks to be a responsible logger. Jack’s brother Gavin (Karl Urban) wants to cut down many more trees than he is supposed to. These views of how we relate to nature transfer to the way people approach Eliot. Grace and Jack seek to save him. Gavin and others seek to exploit him, just as they want to exploit the forest. Gavin is not an evil person or really even what we would call a villain. He is just one who operates out of selfishness whether it has to do with trees or Eliot.

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The film also seeks to emphasize the importance of family and belonging. Even though Pete and Eliot have what seems like a family bond, we know that they are both missing what it means to be with those of their own kind. The family motif plays out with Meacham and Grace, with Jack and Natalie, and even with Jack and Gavin. But the real ideal of family is seen in the bond between Eliot and Pete, even though it is not a real family. It is that relationship that all the others want to have in their own lives.

Finally, the film is about wonder and faith. When Meacham tells Grace the non-tall tale version of his encounter so many years before, he says he didn’t experience fear, but rather awe at the magic in the world. He says, “It changed the way I see the world.” Ever since his encounter with Eliot, he has lived with that sense of wonder and tried, through his storytelling, to convey it to the generations that have followed. Pete and Eliot bring the reality of his story to the town. Encounters with Eliot and discovering that there is magic in the world lead many to new ways of seeing the world, just as it had for Meacham. Often faith is understanding that things we may not see really are there.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios