SXSW 2013 Film Reviews: 'Fall and Winter'

Fall and Winter

Billed as a "psycho-spiritual survival guide for the 21st century," this lovingly crafted back-to-nature doc is a beautifully shot attempt to explore the most pressing anxieties of our time. But beware: The operative word here is "psycho-spiritual." It is an ambient work (i.e., no hockey stick graphs) reminiscent of an era when the environmental movement more readily accepted its New Age appeal. Many of the luminaries interviewed here came up in that era, and they do not fear linking together a broad swath of societal ills: peak-oil, -soil, -water, and -peace; celebrity culture; the loss of meaningful rites of passage. Some of the more touching commentary is from shrimpers along the Gulf Coast. The filmmakers also visit community gardens in Detroit and sustainable Earthship buildings in New Mexico, concluding with a theme of rebirth as humanity reaches its "crescendo." Five years in the making, this ambitious project might have produced 10 short docs. Instead, it's one long, strange trip.