Canadian director Andrew Nisker is back with another environmental documentary. The award-winning filmmaker behind the eco-hit Garbage! The Revolution Starts At Home, now tackles household cleansers and chemical-based hygiene products in his new film Chemerical.
Using a similar formula to his previous environmental documentary Garbage, Nisker helps an ‘average’ Canadian family to get off the toxic teat and start living their lives free from harmful chemicals and other toxic substances. The Goode family of five, like many North American families, are using too many toxic chemicals in their home and require serious detoxification. Nisker asks the family to go chemical free for three months in a bid to raise awareness about the harmful and often carcinogenic chemicals that fill our homes and offices.
The Goode family struggle does present some interesting viewing, at times humorous, and at other times their resistance and naiveté is annoying, but for individuals who rely on chemical cleaning agents and noxious hygiene products, the Goode journey is probably quite illuminating.
I have to admit it wasn’t clear who the target audience was for Chemerical because, for environmentalists, the Goode family seems a tad outdated, more like a very backwards chemically addicted family from the 1950s. The sheer eco-awkwardness of the Goodes made it difficult to engage with them or invest in their green transformation, but perhaps they will seem more engaging to individuals who are also addicted to chemicals.
Another slight bone of contention was the lack of identifiable products (they are all blacked out) in Chemerical. It is difficult to engage with a film about chemical cleaners and noxious hygiene products when not a single one appears in the film. The use of recognizable products, although probably guaranteed to open up a serious can of legal whoopass, would have made the film seem much more realistic and current.
Overall, an engaging and effective rallying cry to get people off the chemical teat and to go au naturel at home and with personal hygiene product choices. I would have preferred more information on the negative effects of chemicals and more time with the Goode family to see if they, with more screen time, would have become more likeable or interesting. Unfortunately, I was left wanting more and kept wishing this 75-minute film was more fleshed out. Not Nisker’s best work, but an important contribution to the eco-movement nonetheless.
Visit: http://chemicalnation.com/
GreenMuze Rating: 
Show/Hide comment form
