Chasing Ice (2012)

James Balog: "There is this limitless universe of forms out there. That is just surreal, otherworldly, sculptural, architectural; insanely, ridiculously beautiful."

By Jeff Orlowski
With James Balog

When I came across Chasing Ice, I was very enthusiastic. I always loved the Great North and documentaries, but even more these two combined. I, for example, loved Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World (2007) although it was, this time, the South Pole.

Chasing Ice follows the crazy project of National Geographic photographer James Balog who, after first doing a short project on glacier, saw the impact it had and decided he had to do more than that. That's when he decided to put in place a massive scale Glacier Watch Unit by implementing cameras to take many many pictures so that afterwards, in time lapse, the glacier could be seen moving. The project surveyed glaciers in Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Iceland for a few years. This documentary is the story behind it.

The documentary starts with a mix of random news cast about global warming and natural disasters. I always considered myself a skeptic about global warming, not because I don't believe that the ice is melting, but because I know the planet has gone through a lot and is still kicking. I was quite surprised and forgot about the global warming for a while as the work and photos of James Balog were being shown. It is simply breathtaking.

Once their project started, the implementation of cameras, reminded me a lot of The Cove (2009) in that they also faced technical difficulties (one has to realize that the cameras were and had to function in the worst possible condition). I felt a very human connection as the documentary also underlines the risks, the annoyances (for example when a fox has eaten away at the cable or when an electronic chip has been malfunctioning and they just traveled across the world to realize there were no shots taken) but also the family of James Balog who we briefly see and the health issues he faces with his knee. It all helps to make the actual work they accomplished all so much tastier and the evidence about the glaciers are hard to dismiss.

I found it to be one of the most spectacular display of nature images. The ending is, without surprise, a warning for the public to take into account the danger of our behaviors. I think that this might throw people off, but I'd say it's a necessary evil. I don't have that much faith in humanity myself, but if there is anything that can inspire something to be done, it will be through these images, because texts and statistics never changed behaviors.

It moved me.

I liked: Breathtakingly beautiful. Human aspects. Harsh conditions. Team work. Stunning glaciers.

I disliked: Yes, it holds a political agenda, but where does mankind and politics differ when it comes to the apocalypse?

88/100
One of the most striking documentary I've seen, if not for the scientifical dimension but simply for the beauty of the ice. And to paraphrase James Balog, as a photograph it is so beautiful, but as a human being it's very sad.