Collapse Movie Trailer (The Best Reviewed “End Is Near” Documentary Of The Year?)
Bill Murray recently offered the following skepticism at a press junket, “I saw a guy talking about the end of the world a couple of years ago, and I haven’t seen that either.” Many notablecriticsfeel that the new documentary entitledCollapse, from the well-regarded director behindAmericanMovieandTheYesMen, more or less informs the world, Murray included, that the end in the form of total economic collapse is once again near. “No,thistime it is.Really.” Based on surface impressions,Collapse’s message sounds not unlike Michael Moore’s recentCapitalism:ALoveStory, which is a turn off, considering that it’s rather obvious things are currently effed in America (the job market, health care, pundit-hungry media, two aimless “wars,” startling deficit, for starters). One need not prescribe to “doomist” theorizing to wave a frightened fist online, though multi-thousands do on a daily basis. But what separatesCollapsefromCapitalismis the man professing the nation’s and world’s anxiety-addled, certain doom:MichaelRuppert.
He’s by no means a household name (yet?) or even as well known asAlexJones, but Ruppert’s outspoken role as a visible “truth teller” dates back to the ’90s when he began publicly stating that theCIAwas complicit in cocaine/crack distribution throughout the country. Such allegations of course were and are not solely Ruppert’s—seehere, Iran Contra, et al—but Ruppert’sclaimsthat he was privy to such info during his time as anLAPDnarcotics detective made him stand out and difficult for politicians and the media to negate outright. He alsoclaimsthat he was dismissed from the LAPD for related reasons. In the years since, Ruppert has continued on as an investigative reporter and becomeassociatedwith questioning 9/11; his stances on these controversial hot topics have been featured in smaller, independent docs likeCrack the CIAandAftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11.
Collapseis easily the most high profile and widely reviewed doc to feature Ruppert, and it is also the first of its kind to focus solely on him as a subject. The doc is said to be an objective presentation of Ruppert’s views and insights on the end of civilization as we know it, and consists of Ruppert explaining how the future will play out as he sits in a room “that looks like a bunker,” to borrow from the officialsynopsis. The use of the word “bunker” implies to me that the film is well aware of Ruppert’s vicinity to the modern conspiracist fringe, but according to many reviews—see below—he’s utterly convincing. Many critics at this year’sToronto International Film Festivalcited Ruppert’s reliance on facts and data as a major strength that resonated far beyond Moore’s schtick;EW’s Owen Gleiberman wrote thefollowingin a positive and contemplative review…
… If you wanted to pigeonhole Michael Ruppert…You’d say that he’s a conspiracy theorist who has thrived within the information-age quasi-underworld of the Internet. Yet the power ofCollapseis that Ruppert, with hisdazzling articulationand disarmingly low-key, just-the-facts-ma’am encylopedic-associational style, neversoundslike a crackpot. You may want to dispute him, but more than that you’ll want to hear him, because what he says — right or wrong, prophecy or paranoia — takes up residence in your mind.
What’s a bit surprising about many of these mainstream, credible reviews is how many seem to agree wholeheartedly with Ruppert’s alarming, glass-is-empty forecasts.Jeff Wellsin particular sounds like he’s ready to stock up on candles and make like Tim Robbins inWar of the Worlds: “Before I sawCollapseI would have readily agreed with the view that things are very, very bad in terms of the world’s economic and energy scenarios. After seeingCollapseI’m 95% convinced that we’reon the brink of Armageddon—that we’re truly and royally fucked.” But in the end, even Wells admits that the toll of all this “sky is falling”-type proclamation is not to be overlooked on Ruppert’s person (he’s a voracious chain smoker, played up in the trailer).
One peer whose opinion I trust is Michael Tully atHammer to Nail, who views the film’s title like this: “…what makesCollapseeven more powerful is the realization that the title has two meanings….this is ultimately the story of a bitter man who has isolated himself, and been isolated, from society. That we have previously watched him express himself with such intellectual precision, with such emotional passion, only adds to the film’s sense of sadness and doom. Yet having said that, Ruppert gives a rousing call-to-arms at the end, explaining that when the shit does indeed hit the fan, we can’t start freaking out. The world is about to change seismically, there’s no doubt about it.”
In the past, many smart (and dumb/crazy/depressed) men have declared the end of the world, as Bill Murray joked above. But I think what makes me curious aboutCollapseyet also has me not dying to see it is the gut instinct that Ruppert has researched and memorized for hundreds of hours if not more only to point out what is so figuratively apparent to so many 20somethings: smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. I wonder if the film will end up being a nascent document of the old school, singular doomist as on the way out on a cultural level, finally accepted with a tinge of pity by a younger generation that looks at him as if to say, “And…?” and also, “We know a fissure is about to open up right in the middle, but do you mind not smoking in this credit-card friendly restaurant until that happens?”
If you have seen the film or are familiar with Ruppert—there he is below, the guy certainly has grapefruits—let us know what you think in the comments. Also, are Balloon Boy andGleepart of an inside job that also involves sightings of Moth Man?
