Carbon - The Unauthorised Biography (2022) User Reviews

1st part is nice, 2nd part is unfortunately greenwashing

[dobricean · 6/10 · 22 March 2022]

The central message is that carbon is everywhere in different forms, that life would not be possible without it, and this message is conveyed both in a scientific way and poetic way. Good stuff.

However, this movie is also advocating greenwashing, for example when we see the founder of a solar energy company saying ' it's easy, look, solar energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, we don't need fossil fuels anymore ' : yes well guess what solar panels are mainly made using..coal, oil. That's why they are so cheap. The energies we call renewables are actually deeply relying on..fossil fuels.

Another one is when someone in the movies says that his vision of the future is 'using the carbon in the air for energy' instead of fossil fuels. Show me how can do that at large scale, until then I ll consider this greenwashing

Same goes with the carbon capture giga factories. We would need 40 000 + of those. And those are built with metal, construction engines working on fuel etc. Greenwashing once again I'm sorry..

Best thing we can do is try and consume less instead of dreaming of a ultra technologized society because else this will be the end of us.

Anthropomorphised Chemistry?

[trevd-22977 · 3/10 · 6 March 2022]

I got about halfway through this before I could take no more. When did we start ascribing a sex to the elements? Most of the interviewees insisted on referring to Carbon as 'her'. I have never, ever, thought of chemicals as being either male or female. Very irritating & unnecessary. This was far too simplified to be of use to most people except perhaps children.

Life: "to be" or "not the be"

[snahL58 · 9/10 · 4 April 2022]

The essence of this movie is that Carbon is an extremely versatile element that in conjunction with certain other elements enables and disables forms of life.

It shows that the amount of freely floating carbon particles (CO2) regulate temperature within our atmosphere.

It also shows how plants use CO2 to capture and store carbon into the ground and how humans began to use those vast deposits of Carbon enabling the industrial revolution during the past 200 years resulting in a) the massive release of CO2 in that relatively short period and b) the current high standard of living of many.

A continuous release of CO2 into the atmosphere at current pace leads to a tipping point when efforts to remove CO2 from the atmosphere become futile, with the potential to eradicate life on our planet.

We better act NOW to avoid reaching that tipping point.

No matter what, our spaceship earth continues to circle around the sun for a very long time to come. The question for current generations is: With or without life?

This documentary is great for all adults & children. I cannot determine any attempt of greenwashing as one contributor stated.

Interesting note aside is that the religious phrase: "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" (Genesis 3:19), may refer to the carbon element, which at that time was unknown as of todays scientific definition.

Gushing and Excited Talking Heads - How about Taking this Seriously?

[alex-278 · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

I think that I would prefer to see the "Authorised Biography" of Carbon!

This is awful and I believe that the producers should have looked at the documentary "Rivers" to get an idea how to convey the harrowing message of what damage we are causing.

While the premise to this programme is unquestionably important its delivery suggests that we have lost the ability to, in some cases, to present a gripping documentary without the need to see silly presenters behaving like they are talking to 2 year olds at kindergarten. And please tell me how social, family diversity and virtue signalling helps in getting the message across into what is a very important topic.

I can't believe that this method of delivery will have any impact on anyone capable of making a change in the world and the only time we almost got onto the right path with this programme was when the Australian entrepreneur began talking (in a adult manner) about the importance of renewables and how they will change the world. He is absolutely right, and it makes me think that this documentary would have been far better if it was kept within the confines of local scientists talking in a plain manner about a both serious and interesting problem that we have created for ourselves.

Amazing to see!

[Neversaynever31061 · 10/10 · 4 April 2022]

I took my 15 yo son to see this and he understood everything - it was a very cool take on science of carbon with some amazing stuff to learn, and see. The visuals are great, the music too. I had no issue with the personification of Carbon, thought it was original and worked. Sara Snook is percent as the voice of carbon.

They were 100% sniffing carbon while making this

[brostromirma · 1/10 · 30 March 2023]

Like omg the documentary is so slow for no reson and it is painfull to watch. Mabye they made it slow so that people who struggle to understand science wont have a hard time watching the movie, idk. But it makes the movie so boaring.

But not only is the movie slower than my grandma, it is also very dragged out. Inbetween the actuall imformative and interesting stuff, the "experts" they talked to were just rambeling incoherntry. A paper written on carbon by a 6 year old would be more imformative than those parts.

But if their goal was to make the topic easy to understand it utterly failed in that sense too. If they wanted to make a hard topic easy to understand mabye they would simplify it? NOPE, instead, as i mentiond, they just talk slowly.

I didnt watch the entire movie, and i probably didnt play much attention the parts i did watch. But i remember there being some questionable imformation in there.

Most noticible were quotes very simular to stuff CHLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS say.

Overall i am downright offended that a sub teacher forsed my class to watch this in chemestry, and if i ever see him again god will not forgive me.