The Unforeseen (2007)

Director:

Laura Dunn

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary about the development around Barton Springs in Austin, Texas, and nature's unexpected response to being threatened by human interference. |

Plot Keywords:

Nature | Austin Texas | Water Pollution | Urban Development | Blueprint

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Gary Bradley
Judah Folkman
William Greider
Willie Nelson
Robert Redford	...	Himself
Ann Richards

Directed by
Laura Dunn

Produced by
Madeleine Akers	....	associate producer
Laura Dunn	....	producer
Terrence Malick	....	executive producer
Carolyn Merriman	....	associate producer
Robert Redford	....	executive producer
Douglas Sewell	....	producer
Jef Sewell	....	producer
Rose Hansen Smith	....	co-producer
William Warren	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Lee Daniel
Vance Holmes

Film Editing by
Laura Dunn
Emily Morris

Sound Department
Ethan Andrus	....	sound mixer
Wayne Bell	....	field recordist
Wayne Bell	....	sound editor
Wayne Chance	....	sound editor
Tom Hammond	....	sound designer
Tom Hammond	....	sound re-recording mixer
Justin Hennard	....	sound editor
Dennis Meehan	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Jef Sewell	....	motion graphics

Editorial Department
Oscar Oboza	....	colorist

Music Department
Brooke Wentz	....	music clearances

Other crew
Unjoo Lee Byars	....	main title producer
Kyle Cooper	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Despair
• Sundance Institute, The

Distributors

• Cinema Guild, The (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Despair (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Special Edition)
• Sundance Channel (2007) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Prologue Films  titles
• Soundcrafter  sound post-production

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Despair

Trivia:

Director Laura Dunn was 9 months pregnant at the time of her interview with Robert Redford. The interview took place on her due date. She gave birth the next day to a son (to whom the film is dedicated).

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: A latter animation showing water lines becoming blood vessels has a noticeable shift. It appears a duplicate frame has been accidentally inserted.

Quotes:

Wendell Berry: I walked the deserted prospect of the modern mind - where nothing lived or happened that had not been foreseen. What had been foreseen was the coming of the Stranger with Money. All that had been before had been destroyed: A new earth had appeared in place of the old...

Movie Connections:

Features "Frontline: The Great American Bailout (#9.16)" (1991)

Amateurish

Whether you support unfettered property rights on the one hand or a government's exercise of power to defend the common good on the other hand, this film will let you down. On the left, it's often unenlightening clap trap, especially when you notice the horribly sentimental background music. On the right, it points out the selfishness of those claiming to be the real Americans when they are mostly just "real loud" Americans. Someone should tell those folks that common sense says you don't shite where you eat, but as long as they're taking cash to the bank they'll apparently just do their business wherever they please. These people probably know that everything has consequences, but they plan for the other guy to bear those consequences, a guaranteed formula for social meltdown.

The only admirable figures in the film were a wizened old farmer and a young boy in a new suburb. Those two seemed to possess a clarity of thought singularly missing from the property developers on one side and the ecological "Nimbys" on the other. It was nice, though, to see the late Texas governor Ann Richards again, certainly a far more lucid politician than the person who replaced her.

I think neither side was well depicted in this film of the ongoing battle between personal vs. social, private vs. public. Ultimately, The Unforeseen is, unfortunately, a lightweight film on a very serious subject.