Worth: $18.00
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Cast:
Bob Brown
Intro:
… inspiring and sometimes visually dazzling …
This well made and often powerful documentary is neatly titled, being both about a giant in the metaphorical sense – the indefatigable activist and former politician Bob Brown – and a reference to the literal giants (eucalyptus regnans trees) whose protection was the focus of one of his many campaigns. These and other natural wonders are key elements of the film.
With such an extraordinary and thoroughly documented life as Brown’s for the subject, the sheer weight of information here is amazing, quite apart from the thematic potency. We move relatively quickly from his childhood to his graduation as a doctor … the experience of being a gay man at a time when it could lead to “a gaol sentence if not worse”, the cruel absurdity of aversion therapy and his (typical) bravery in coming out … the sadly unsuccessful campaign to stop the Lake Pedder hydro scheme … and then the many resounding successes, far too legion to list here but including stopping the building of the Franklin dam, the founding and expansion of the Wilderness Society, and of course, the birth and rapid snowballing in scale and clout of the Greens. Then there are the key moments that will linger in your memory, not least the occasion when Brown literally called out George W. Bush (on illegal detention of Australian citizens) – and got thrown out of Parliament for his troubles. And there is the happy story of his relationship with Paul Thomas, whom he met in 1996.
The Giants is inspiring and sometimes visually dazzling, but it’s also very depressing. How could it not be when it discusses topics like irreparable environmental destruction and climate change? But, as the great man himself puts it, “defiance is defying the impulse to think it’s all too much. Don’t get depressed. Get active.”
