VIFF 2020 | "The Magnitude Of All Things" Presents A Unique Premise And Compelling Commentary For Climate Activism
10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars
Grief, as we know it between ourselves and people we care about, can be devastating to endure. If we could take that same grief and apply it to the current condition of the world, we’d be taking more immediate and impassioned action to combat climate change. That’s the idea behind Jennifer Abbott’s documentary, The Magnitude of All Things, which takes a beautiful and unique stance on how we as humanity should think about climate change and how we deal with it.
In The Magnitude of All Things, director Jennifer Abbott draws a parallel between the grief of losing her sister and the grief suffered in the deterioration of our planet due to climate change. The documentary hears from climate activists of all ages from around the world. Their views on the climate crisis presents compelling commentary about how different people, cultures and lifestyles have been affected by climate change and why things need to change.
Anote Tong for example, former president of the Republic of Kiribati, makes a point as he discusses climate change, saying that countries can increase their emissions as long as the effects stay within their borders. His point, of course, being that that is impossible. Which makes it so appropriate that The Magnitude of All Things visits so many corners of the planet to gather a variety of perspectives on the subject.
The message about climate change in The Magnitude of All Things is dire, as you would expect from an environmentalism film. But Jennifer brings a personal and deeply affecting component to the conversation. What’s more, The Magnitude of All Things features incredible and gorgeous cinematography. Bright, vivid, smooth, often slow motion shots capture some of the best scenery the world has to offer.
While The Magnitude of All Things abundantly excels at appealing to the hearts and minds of those concerned with the current and future health of our planet, it has not yet cracked the code on how to reach those who are less concerned with the subject matter, if there even is a way to do so. Everyone can relate with grief, and the transposition of the concept on to a topic as highly contentious as climate change is a clever way to frame the issue in a new light. The Magnitude of All Things is certainly a strong and prominent pillar of support for those already entrenched in the fight, but may struggle in winning over the opposition, which I believe is ultimately what’s needed to make timely significant change.
Winning over the opposition, however, doesn’t seem to be the goal here, and that’s okay. The Magnitude of All Things succeeds at both being a source of motivation for climate activism and a love letter to Jennifer’s sister. The fight against climate change rages on and Jennifer’s contribution to the effort with The Magnitude of All Things is highly respectable as it teaches us what grieving for our planet means and why it’s important that we do something about it.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 2 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?
Streaming on VIFF Connect for BC Residents until October 7:
