"Promised Land" - A brief review

It’s not the kind of heavy and critical movie. The issue is simple: selling the land that’s passed on for generations to the gas company, Global, will make some instant fortune that can help the relatively impovished folks in the countryside who haven’t got much to sell; but it also surely will devastate the land which can provide them with some basic mean of life – and most of all the emotional attachment to their culture and dignity. It is a movie full of fun and humour, but not cliché. Arguments need not be made in hostile confrontation; romance need not endure hysterical fight; pollution needs not be explained by horrible, disgusting scenes. There was no harsh accusations to the gas company, nor their employees – “it’s just a job”. What is the most impressive throughout the movie is the lush green, peaceful scene of the countryside landscape; and of course, all the plain and rough – yet simple and kind – faces of the local people – old men, farmers, housewives, little girls alike – whose characters could only belong to this poor but gifted land. The people and their lifestyle will be gone when their land is sold. Aren’t these the strongest counter-arguments to the promised wealth and good life brought about by fracking shale gas?

What can we do in the face of the ever-perplexing situation of the earth’s natural environment? Who’s the good guy, who’s the bad guy? What is good, what is not? As though information gets more and more accessible, they are getting more complicated than ever. They are impossible to be comprehended by an ordinary brain. Enterprises, politicians, even academics and activists are in tangling relationships with each other. It will not only require the wise and intelligent people to speak out and defend the truth, it also requires every ordinary person to take their little steps to learn and influence others according to their own ability. (Spoiler below) 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 。 Steve, a Global employee, set off to persuade the residents of a small agricultural town selling their land for gas exploitation in return of more decent prospect for themselves and for their future generations. It went well at first until an intelligent old man, Frank, showed up and presented the folks with the potential damages of the deal. The folks are divided and a vote will be carried out. Then came in an environmentalist who tried to talk the folks out of the deal. The two sides began the campaign, school talks, funfairs and so on. On the eve to the town’s vote, evidents appeared accusing the environmentalist of cheating, a good news for Steve to win all the residents back. Suspecting the motive of the environmentalist, Steve found out that he’s in fact a undercover sent from Global to fill the role of environmentalist after they spotted Frank as a major threat to their plan. Baffled and frustrated by his company’s plot, Steve revealed the very truth to the folks before the vote.