I just saw this at the festival. Wow. What an awesome film (and soundtrack)!! This isn't just a film about a car, it's film about us, but more than that, it's an uplifting film about us. Most documentaries make me want to jump off a bridge after I leave the theater, but this one gave me hope. In the pre-hybrid days, the EV1 fully electric car was released by GM in the 1990s with great fanfare and hubris from Roger Smith (yes, the same Roger Smith as "Roger & Me".) It caught on quickly with consumers and gave GM a 3 year technological head start over the other manufactures. GM, however, had inadvertently built a car that required no gas, no oil, and no replacement parts. If they'd stayed the course, GM would be where Toyota is today with the Prius, but with no gas required. But they, and a host of others, chose a different course. This films chronicles the struggle of the dedicated EV drivers (men and women, everyday folks) who decided to take a stand. A stand against who? A stand against auto manufacturers, big oil, the federal government, the state of California, and ultimately their fellow consumers. If one person can make a difference, wait until you see what a growing coalition of one-persons can do (and are doing)! Be afraid, Goliath, be very afraid. As one girl in the audience put it, "I can't believe I cried over a car...twice."
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Monday, December 21, 2009
Film of the Week
Not a new one but one that came out in 2006. Who Killed the Electric Car is a damning expose of how vested interests literally pulled the plug on what could have been a revolution in electric vehicles. There's no one guilty party but a range of them, many with a shared concern in preventing the first successful fully electric car from become widely popular. IMDB has movie info for the cine buffs. Here's a review from IMDB: