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Vanishing of the Bees(U)
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Dir. George Langworthy and Maryam Henein, UK/US, 2009, 97 mins,
Cast: Emilia Fox (narration), David Hackenberg
Review by Richard Mellor
In case you haven’t heard, the world’s honeybee population is declining at speed. This is the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), wherein entire hives vanish without obvious explanation. It’s very bad news: these incredible insects account for much of our daily diet, pollinating plants from onions to oranges. Without them, some foresee a bland diet of corn and more corn; the gloomier echo the Einstein-attributed prophecy that “man will have no more than four years to live”. Be it cobs or corpses, this is evidently a problem needing an urgent fix, as Fox’s stern narration suggests. So, who’s to blame?
Actually, that’s already known. See, after meticulously establishing this biological whodunit and even indulging in an initial rundown of the chief suspects, directors Langworthy/Henein admit that the culprit has in fact long been identified. Although there’s no firm proof, honeybees seem very likely to be suffering at the hands of a nasty German pesticide used on vast monoculture farms. French farmers experiencing CCD realised this years ago and the National Assembly banned the offending chemical treatment. Other nations followed suit. Turns out the real puzzle here is why America hasn’t done the same.
The answer, revealed only after close to 100 gruelling minutes, exposes such spectacularly inane bureaucracy as to almost make the tedious wait worthwhile. Almost. For, while this is an eminently fascinating and important subject, nearly two hours of the stuff will test even the most avid apiarist’s patience. Despite the directorial duo’s use of a book graphic to illustrate the sequence of sections here, this film is no metaphorical pageturner. Truths are dwelt upon with frightful, plodding emphasis and chronological progress is made in only fitful bursts.
Much of it could be cut: the endless footage of empty hives and perplexed farmers, trivial scenes including footage of a class of worried school kids singing (badly) their bee protection song, and over meticulously thorough coverage of a French CCD summit. The random and ultimately irrelevant diversions about unscrupulous Japanese honey importers or the cult of biodynamic beekeeping practices could also be shred. It’s all so tedious. Really all one wants to know is: ARE WE ALL DOOMED OR WHAT?
Instead, we get the kind of cheap diagrams, archive black-and-white footage and ill-advisedly dressed boffins reminiscent of school science videos. Snazziness is badly needed – for instance, how about attaching a microscopic camera to a bee? Not only would it be exciting but the aforementioned boffins could see to where the bees vanish, analyse the corpses, and maybe even “out” the evil pesticide. It’s probably a question of budget though. The film is funded on limited means by the Co-Operative, part of its impressive Plan Bee scheme to both aid honeybee research and increase awareness of CCD.
It’s hard not to think though that a television documentary might create a better buzz and carry more sting. Will many people really pay today’s extortionate cinema fees to see a long movie about bees, even with this one’s murder-mystery element? It’s doubtful. Nevertheless, Langworthy and Henein deserve praise for trying to inform the public of something fundamentally important via an informative and often fascinating film. As they warn us in the movie, pesticides threaten more than honeybees; continual use of them is likely to eventually endanger our own more robust health.
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