Dark Waters: a film based on a true story
Dark Waters isn’t the film you want to see, but it is the film you need to see to understand what’s going on in the world today
This statement is taken from a review of Dark Waters posted on-line
An equally powerful review says: “The movie is harrowing and unsettling but extremely well made and absolutely worth watching. “
The film is based on the true story of American environmental attorney, Rob Bilott and his long, drawn out, seemingly unending battle with DuPont. The story was brought to wider public attention in 2016 with the publication of an article in the New York Times by Nathaniel Rich.
The story in summary:
Robert Bilott, played by Mark Ruffalo, is a corporate defense attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio
Farmer Wilbur Tennant shows him evidence - from video tapes he's made to remaining cow parts - of how all of his cows have died, showing signs of bizarre and strange disease. He knows it has to do with the huge company DuPont, who has a plant in town
Robert forces DuPont to turn over its information, which it does, sending him hundreds of boxes of documents hoping he'll never find anything. He goes through the files one by one, finally finding reference to a chemical called PFOA that he can't find anything about
In the middle of the night, Robert's pregnant wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway) finds him tearing the carpet off the floors and going through their pans. He tells her they're being poisoned, and she thinks he's gone mad, until he explains what he's found in the DuPont documents: PFOA-C8 is a man-made chemical used in the production of Teflon.
An independent scientific review is set up to study the affects of PFOA. Finally, seven years after the panel was convened, the scientific review contacts Robert and tells him that PFOA causes multiple cancers and other diseases.
We went to see it; it was well made, well acted, shocking and disturbing. These further quotations from reviewers sum it up as well as we can:
“While the movie may not be necessarily enjoyable from start to finish, it is thought provoking and a must see.”
“Issue-oriented movies aren't uncommon, but this essential drama feels starker and truer than most; it's patient, unafraid, and stripped of any kind of hollow self-congratulations.
As the movie continues, it becomes clear that there's no clear victor … and in fact, the war goes on.”
We think it’s a powerful film, we believe that it delivers a strong message, we left the cinema feeling unsettled and we feel vindicated in the choices that we, as manufacturers, are making. But ultimately it’s up to you what you make of it, what choices you make as result of seeing it. We would welcome your thoughts, do get in touch. Write to us at sales@netherton-foundry.co.uk
