"Titanic Syndrome" warns of catastrophe

By Charles Masters

PARIS (Hollywood Reporter) - What might be termed the ultimate disaster movie involves no special effects whatsoever.

"The Titanic Syndrome," the directing debut of French environmental program-maker-turned-eco-campaigner Nicolas Hulot, is a cinematic attempt to wake viewers up to the calamitous future we're arguably heading for if we don't change our ways.

The titular syndrome is simple: Our planet is the doomed oceanliner, and we -- in the West, at least -- are all busy leading our more-or-less luxurious lives as we sail toward cataclysm. It's obviously not the first film in recent times to put forward the case for safeguarding Earth, but it promises to look at the issue from a bold perspective.

"We're at a crossroads of crises: An energy crisis, a food crisis, an economic crisis," Hulot observes. "We have to look at ourselves as we really are. Our model is not sustainable. It's this model, based on competition and accumulation, which is the source of much disorder. We have to change and everyone has to be part of that, including those in the developing world."

"Syndrome" is the first documentary venture from Paris-based producer Mandarin Cinema, best known for commercial comedies like "Brice de Nice." The company backed Hulot's project "quite simply because it interested us," explains Eric Altmayer, who runs Mandarin with his brother Nicolas.

"Syndrome" is no filmed lecture or argument put forth by global experts. Narration is sparse, and it sets out to make its point through the power of images that highlight what Hulot calls "the society of waste." For example, cars being torn up in a breaker's yard juxtaposed against the opulence of the Tokyo Motor Show, and children in Nigeria picking over mountains of discarded electronic equipment to eke out a living from recycling metal.

"We haven't filmed nature seen from the sky, the beautiful landscapes, the glaciers melting, the land drying up. We've tried instead to film the absurdity of the conflict between man and nature," Altmayer says.

Shooting began in September 2007, and involved more than 28 weeks of filming on every continent. For such a mammoth shoot, the movie has a relatively modest budget of about $8 million (4.5 millon pounds).