Beauty's in the Eye of the Beholder

Vast amount of space, human effort, and time go into making some of the biggest structures or excavation sites around the world. In Manufactured Landscapes, Jennifer Baichwal focuses on China and its grand industrial scheme. It is argued that the film produces an argument that the manufacturing industry damages the earth. What I get from this film is quite the opposite. I see how manufacturing is beautiful. The first ten minutes of the film show a lengthy factory where Chinese workers do their repetitive motions of assembly. The same swift motions over and over gives a comforting feeling and a since of awe of how fast the worker can assemble their pieces. It is like watching synchronized swimming or a symphony. Everything is working together in a beautiful -grand scheme.

 

Baichwal focuses on the pictures taken by Edward Burtynsky where he captures titanic innovations including unfinished boats and fields of ore. It seems Baichwal utilizes Burtynsky to show the cluttered and polluted landscapes in a tasteful manner to where the audience can see the beauty in the landscape like the photographer. The geometric shapes and large scale construction zones, within the pictures, impress the eye. Geometric shapes are appealing to the eye because humans like things neat and tidy and humans like the massive size of their innovations because it gives a since of accomplishment. These large scale “art pieces” invoke beauty in the eye of the beholder. Maybe I completely miss the argument within the film, but what does a film do if not give something to each viewer to take from it?

 

Manufactured Landscapes. Dir Jennifer Baichwal. Foundry Films. 2007