Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes is a canadien film of genre Comedy directed by Bill Mason

The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes (1968)

The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes
If you like this film, let us know!
Length 17minutes
Directed by
OriginCanada
Genres Comedy,    Documentary
Rating79% 3.969033.969033.969033.969033.96903

The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes is a 1968 Canadian short film featuring a humorous geography lesson in which a canoeist travels abruptly through time as he crosses the Great Lakes, experiencing cataclysmic changes in different eras. The film is narrated in ballad form.

Some animation is employed in the film to show the coming and going of the Ice Age when the lakes were born, but most of the other episodes of lake history are suggested by camera tricks that affect the canoeman and so emphasize the change. There is, for instance, a scene where open water suddenly turns to ice, freezing the canoe in mid-paddle. Then, the canoe is left in mid air high above the water, illustrating the melting of the ice, and causing the intrepid canoeist to crash to the water below. At another juncture, he is almost run over by a huge freighter, illustrating the befouling of the waters by shipping. Such slapstick effects are employed to mark all the major changes in this history of the Great Lakes.

Sudden changes of level leave the canoe stranded, or submerge the traveller’s tent. Between times the camera examines surviving evidence of the passage of the Ice Age – the striations of the rocks, the folds in the earth of farm landscapes viewed from the air. Toward the end of the film the canoeman seems once more safe from violent change and contentedly paddles across crystal-clear waters. Casually he dips his cup for a drink and savours the good water. But on the second dip the lake has changed. This time when he drinks is not pleasant. The lakes that have survived so many changes without losing their purity are now seen to be sadly fouled by man. Poignant scenes, accompanied by equally mournful music, show dead fish floating amidst the flotsam, jetsam, and detritus of industrial waste and sewage.
Trailer of The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

Comments


Leave comment :

Suggestions of similar film to The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes

There are 5 films with the same director, 45658 with the same cinematographic genres (including 419 with exactly the same 2 genres than The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes), 5245 films with the same themes (including 0 films with the same 3 themes than The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes), to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.

If you liked The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes, you will probably like those similar films :
180° South, 1h25
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Documentary
Themes Environmental films, Sports films, Documentary films about sports, Documentary films about environmental issues, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Alicia Ika
Rating74% 3.7440953.7440953.7440953.7440953.744095
The film emulates the 1968 trip made by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia, but rather than by land, Jeff Johnson travels by sea from Mexico and south along the west coast of Chile. The film opens with original home movie footage as taken by Chouinard and Tompkins, and then continues with Johnson's own footage, in which he includes surfing, sailing and climbing as the film follows Johnson signing on with a small boat heading for Chile, his being delayed for several weeks on Easter Island, his meeting travel partner Makohe, and in his reaching Patagonia, Johnson meeting with Chouinard and Tompkins. The film concludes with his attempt to climb Cerro Corcovado (the Corcovado volcano), an attempt that was halted 200 feet from the summit out of concerns for safety.
The Boxing Cats
Directed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, William Heise
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Documentary, Action, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Boxing films, Films about cats, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Rating58% 2.903392.903392.903392.903392.90339
Excités par leur présentateur que l'on voit derrière le "ring", deux chats gantés se livrent à un court combat de boxe.
West of Pluto
Genres Drama, Comedy, Documentary
Themes Sports films, Skateboard
Actors Lise Castonguay
Rating70% 3.5310953.5310953.5310953.5310953.531095
Le film présente une journée complète dans la vie d'adolescents québécois. Du réveil en passant par l'école jusqu'à un open house, le film fait entrer le spectateur dans la peau des différents personnages en présentant une sélection de scènes typiques de la vie adolescente au Québec. On voit ainsi les adolescents faire des présentations orales en classe, fumer de la drogue, discuter de questions existentielles, tenter de sortir de la bière avant l'âge légal, critiquer l'uniformité sociale, faire la fête, faire l'amour, etc.
The Boxing Cats
Directed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, William Heise
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Documentary, Action
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Boxing films, Films about cats, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Rating58% 2.903392.903392.903392.903392.90339
Deux chats (présentés dans le « carton » du titre comme appartenant à un certain « Professeur Welton ») se battent aux poings sur un ring à leur taille. Ils sont munis de gants de boxe anglaise et leur dresseur les tient debout face à face par leur collier.