Blue Gold – World Water Wars (2008/Purple Turtle DVD/PBS)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Documentary: B

 

 

Water seems plentiful, especially with 2/3rds of the earth covered with it.  However, pollution and other problems have denatured much of it and much of it is not being cleaned or being allowed to enter the ecosystem in a healthy way that has made clean drinking water a major problem.  Now, it is getting worse and in Sam Bozzo’s new documentary Blue Gold – World Water Wars (2008) it seems some governments and corporations are trying to take advantage of the situation in grim ways.

 

To deny people water or make them go so into debt that they are stuck buying or literally dying is the latest man-made catastrophe some powerful forces apparently want to try out in the name of big profits and just having the pure power over other people.  Though I did not agree with every point of this very intriguing 90-minutes-long program, I thought it made very valid points about water becoming the next oil and why that needs to be stopped.  If the behavior over not passing out water during the Hurricane Katrina fiasco was any sign, things could get very ugly.

 

Of course, it also discusses how it feels bottled water is a rip off versus the cost to get it out of a sink, yet it never covers the other issue (without helping the mass privatization that could cause this nightmare) that the pipes the water are coming through are rotting, can have lead content and the infrastructure (as shown in cases where privatized systems were pumping out infected water) becomes less efficient when not upgraded, but the money to do that is also a massive undertaking.  The issues are very complex, but withholding water from anyone is bad.  From many, we are looking at civil wars and worse.  Malcolm McDowell very effectively narrates and the interviews are very good.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is a bit weak and has aliasing errors throughout, but is still consistent and watchable.  I wish this were anamorphic and for most of the footage being newly shot, should look better on Blu-ray.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no major surrounds, but is a clear new recording and fares better than the image.  Extras include a trailer, filmmaker interview and 17.5 minutes of valuable deleted scenes.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo