Ryan McNeil
Some of the biggest problems in the world today are problems we face because we choose not to listen. Sure there are powers in play, and interests being served, but in the end, so many disagreements are fuelled by the fact that we don’t listen, so much as we just wait for our turn to talk. Often it can make the difference between conversation, and pontification.
THE UNBELIEVERS is a tour diary. It’s as if a film director followed a rock band on the road, except in this case the rock stars are renowned scientific minds. The film follows biologist Richard Dawkins and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss as they continue a conversation. It’s a conversation they’ve been having for years and a conversation they might be having for the rest of their lives. It’s a conversation about the building blocks of our universe, and specifically, the absence of God.
What’s immediately evident about THE UNBELIEVERS is its look. While it is a film about a conversation, it wisely chooses to frame that conversation with places and spaces that give the discussion oxygen. They are talking about big ideas after all, so drowning them in daylight, or pulling back to show the full-scale of The Sydney Opera House underlines their big ideas with big visuals. As the camera wanders through the grounds of Oxford University, or sweeps over the cityscape of Melbourne, one is allowed to consider these men’s findings and beliefs, and consider what it means for one’s own existence.
The film inherently faces an uphill challenge – the same challenge that faces any documentary on politics or religion. The challenge is whether it can create something engaging and palatable not just to the converted, but to the non-believer (full disclosure: that includes me). For the most part, the film navigates these waters with a fair degree of grace. Part of this comes thanks to the balance of words and visuals. Another helping hand comes from the decision to keep these two men speaking to each other instead of engaging in arguments with people who disagree with their point of view. This keeps the film on-point, and it’s what keeps the conversation engaging…
…to a point.
The point comes in the film’s final act, which is dedicated to The Reason Rally: a gathering of thousands of atheists on The National Mall in Washington DC. Before the film arrives at The Reason Rally, there is an argumentative tone that can be heard now and then from Dawkins and Krauss. My theory on this is that the two men have spent so many years getting yelled at by religious believers, that they feel the need to yell back every now and then…even if there aren’t any believers present. This disposition goes into overdrive during The Reason Rally. The extra mustard on the argument doesn’t just come from Dawkins and Krauss, but from every speaker who takes the mic. What is cut together feels less like a call to reason, than a mockery of those who disagree.
The conversation has ended, and the browbeating has begun.
That the film ends on this note is unfortunate, because it spends so long making measured statements, and presenting them in a handsome way. The camaraderie of Dawkins and Krauss is deeply engaging, and their points of discussion are fascinating even if you don’t agree with them. By achieving this, it allows true discourse. We’re living in times when battle lines are drawn so deeply over politics and religion, that we forget to separate them from the political and the religious. We get caught up in labels, and stop listening to what each other has to say.
THE UNBELIEVERS circumvents the labels for a long time, and is able to speak to us. It’s unfortunate that it felt the need to wrap it all up by yelling at us.
THE UNBELIEVERS is playing today, Saturday May 4th, and once more on Sunday May 5 – both screenings are at 1:30pm at Isabel Bader Theatre. (official website)
I personally decided to skip The Unbelievers, since I knew my beliefs as a practicing Catholic would cloud my judgement on the film.
Of course, a film about two scientists would probably be less insulting to me than a film like Religulous, which openly mocked religion.
You lose the people on the fence when the talking down to begins. It’s a shame they ended it on that note, up until that point they even had some of the more devout members of audiences.