Film An Inconvenient Truth - Movie Review Example

An analysis of the film "An Inconvenient Truth" An Inconvenient Truth is a film featuring Al Gore in an attempt to "halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it." (About the Film) This paper will analyze two specific aspects of the film; whether the film is a politically charged attempt of a presidential candidate that failed to make it to the 2000 United States Presidential role, and if the scientific claims made in the film on global warming are resonate with its intended audience, which is the everyday layman.

In the film, Gore states that "ultimately, this is not a political issue." (An Inconvenient Truth) However, the motives for making this film is in question when reminders of the 2000 elections and his political ambition, one of which is the opening scene of the 2000 elections is scattered throughout the film. In the film, Gore also jokes that he "used to be the next president of the United States of America." (An Inconvenient Truth) This writer believes that the film has the intention to raise awareness on global warming, and the inclusion of a politician in controversial circumstances (due to the 2000 presidential election) provides the platform to draw in audiences.

The artistic flow of the film is intentionally written to document Al Gore's personal encounters as well as the evidence behind the scientific findings. The film also attempts to explain climate change using a number of major claims. For the purpose of this paper the writer will look into two of these claims: (1) the doubling in numbers of category four and five hurricanes in the last thirty years; (2) as temperatures rise, heat waves will be more frequent and intense.While science can be refuted, as can the claims made in the film, this writer believes that the way the claims are presented is able to convince anyone without any scientific background that the idea of global warming does indeed exist.

Due to technological advances in communication infrastructures today, up-to-the-minute reports of hurricanes around the world are televised or broadcasted and people are more aware of this phenomenon compared with the 20 years ago. Although there might or might not be more hurricanes happening today, the awareness fuel the claim that the frequency of hurricanes happening has increased in numbers.In order to demonstrate the point on rising temperatures, Al Gore presents a graphical display in the film that shows the increasing rates of carbon-dioxide emissions and the corresponding rise in temperature over the last 600,000 years using samples from polar ice cores.

The graph shows that during this period, the carbon dioxide levels today is well above anything shown in over half a million years (An Inconvenient Truth). Relating this to present day situations, in 2003, more than 52,000 Europeans died from heat in the summer of 2003 according to the Earth Policy Institute (Setting the Record Straight), and many other similar reports throughout the world are presented everyday. Again, the reality of living in a world where awareness breeds truth may be all that's needed for the global warming message to take its focus.

While the gist of the film is used to argue the catastrophic consequence of global warming if no action is taken, featuring Al Gore as the primary advocate for this cause provides a human element that most films of this genre lack. The instance where Gore sits in vigil in the hospital with his son is a strong reminder to the audience that global warming is not just an unseen threat, but that it involves generations to come and our global civilization. This is the strongest argument throughout the film regardless of political motives and substantiated findings.

Work CitedAbout the Film. Climatecrisis Online. 27 November 2008. http://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm/An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Paramount Classics. 2006.Setting the Record Straight. Earthpolicy Online. 27 November 2008. http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2006/Update56.htm