Michael Madsen's INTO ETERNITY (New Danish Documentary)

Chicago Filmmakers - Friday, 8pm
Can you imagine what the human race will be doing in 100,000 years? Will there be war and struggle? Will there be literature and art? What will they know about us? About our intelligence, our technology, our hubris? And how can we protect them, and their world, from our nuclear waste? These are the existential questions that the scientists and engineers who are building Onkalo, a massive underground fortress cum disposal facility in western Finland, are forced to confront on a daily basis. Shot and edited to feel like science fiction, Danish director Michael Madsen interviews many of the minds behind the worlds first full-scale structure designed to last 100,000 years. Descending over 500m down to the bedrock of the European continent, the series of tunnels are scheduled to start taking on waste about 2020, and to be completely filled and sealed off about a hundred years after that. It is a massive undertaking, with a planned lifespan that cannot really be conceived of in any sort of human terms. The talking heads that populate the film speculate on the best way to ensure that this storage is "permanent." Emphasizing the gravity of these decisions are digitally crisp, high-contrast, slow-motion shots of the workers who drill the tunnels, set the charges, and spend countless hours in the darkness of the tunnel. True to the sci-fi genre, their world is void of definition, and full of shadow and mystery, and is sharp, vast, and eerie. The soundtrack contains constant ominous tones, and the intertitles that separate the chapters of the story look like flashing warning signals, more ALIENS than STAR TREK. As a framing device, the director appears in a dark tunnel, lights a match near his face, and addresses questions to the future visitors who will uncover this curse. It is clear that Madsen is skeptical that the technology of the tunnel will last without repairs, and that future generations can be trusted to preserve the knowledge of what lies beneath the surface, or leave it alone if they did. (2010, 75 min, video) JH - Cine-File.info