"They paved paradise to put up a parking lot"
Jun 7, 2017 23:00:49 GMT
pimpinainteasy, spiderwort, and 1 more like this
Post by manfromplanetx on Jun 7, 2017 23:00:49 GMT
Environmental concerns, battles over heritage and or natural values, entrepreneurs with grand plans, are there any Classic Films with these themes ?
Thanks to folk singer Joni Mitchell, the thread title was taken from her 1970 environmental themed song Big Yellow Taxi
Two that come to mind...
The Skin Game (1931) Alfred Hitchcock
The setting in a small country English village in Lancashire, where an aristocratic landowner Hillcrest sells part of his estate to an antagonistic self-made rich man, Mr. Hornblower.
Hornblower plans to evict the long-time tenant farmers even though they both had agreed at sale, this would not happen. He has further grand plans to change the local environment with industrial real estate speculation, to start an industrial boom in the quiet rural town.
The ancestral cottages and the tranquil green rolling hills will be bulldozed giving rise to a panorama of factories & smokestack chimneys.
The Hillcrists are understandably alarmed at the prospect of such developments....
It's true that The Skin Game is not one of Hitchcock's best remembered or technically superior movies, in fact it is one of his least typical,. he even said " there isn't much to be said about it." but I think it is an underrated film, notable as one of very few where Hitchcock ventures into serious social commentary, and there are some great performances.
Äppelkriget , The Apple War (1971). This hilarious film from Sweden tells an all too familiar tale.
A rich German businessman comes to the peaceful rural setting of Österlen in the south of Sweden with grand plans to build Deutschneyland, a gigantic amusement park for German tourists. The opening scene sees him and his associates envisaging the destruction of the beautifully green and natural environment with images of their extensive development plans for parking lots air strips and the conversion of historical sites..
The local council and members of parliament are swayed & are in favour of the idea, jobs and growth, its a predictable response from them. However not everybody is in favour and with the help of a little magic, scheming begins against the inappropriate development plan...
A personal experience much like the Swedish film, We formed a local group and took on major development plans to transform our quiet natural seaside hamlet, The outcome, after a long drawn out bitter and divisive battle... a major win for us in Environment Court against the Local Council, National Park declared over most of the subject site, and the developers grand plans torn up...
Thanks to folk singer Joni Mitchell, the thread title was taken from her 1970 environmental themed song Big Yellow Taxi
Two that come to mind...
The Skin Game (1931) Alfred Hitchcock
The setting in a small country English village in Lancashire, where an aristocratic landowner Hillcrest sells part of his estate to an antagonistic self-made rich man, Mr. Hornblower.
Hornblower plans to evict the long-time tenant farmers even though they both had agreed at sale, this would not happen. He has further grand plans to change the local environment with industrial real estate speculation, to start an industrial boom in the quiet rural town.
The ancestral cottages and the tranquil green rolling hills will be bulldozed giving rise to a panorama of factories & smokestack chimneys.
The Hillcrists are understandably alarmed at the prospect of such developments....
It's true that The Skin Game is not one of Hitchcock's best remembered or technically superior movies, in fact it is one of his least typical,. he even said " there isn't much to be said about it." but I think it is an underrated film, notable as one of very few where Hitchcock ventures into serious social commentary, and there are some great performances.
Äppelkriget , The Apple War (1971). This hilarious film from Sweden tells an all too familiar tale.
A rich German businessman comes to the peaceful rural setting of Österlen in the south of Sweden with grand plans to build Deutschneyland, a gigantic amusement park for German tourists. The opening scene sees him and his associates envisaging the destruction of the beautifully green and natural environment with images of their extensive development plans for parking lots air strips and the conversion of historical sites..
The local council and members of parliament are swayed & are in favour of the idea, jobs and growth, its a predictable response from them. However not everybody is in favour and with the help of a little magic, scheming begins against the inappropriate development plan...
A personal experience much like the Swedish film, We formed a local group and took on major development plans to transform our quiet natural seaside hamlet, The outcome, after a long drawn out bitter and divisive battle... a major win for us in Environment Court against the Local Council, National Park declared over most of the subject site, and the developers grand plans torn up...