How to Blow Up a Pipeline — A Film Review
A few weeks ago, I went to the cinema for the first time in months. My film of choice was How to Blow Up a Pipeline, directed by Daniel Goldhaber, the plot of which is largely inspired by the ideas advanced in the eponym book by Andreas Malm. I’ve never read the book and was made aware of the film by a couple of friends who know me very well.
My first post-screening reaction was ‘Wow. That was intense’. Let’s start with the plot: a group of eight people, who met more or less randomly, agree to a plan to sabotage a pipeline in Texas, a blowing action to expose the oil industry and its damaging effect on both the environment and humans. The cinematographic quality of this adaptation is unarguable. As well as presenting outstanding acting performances, the film is extremely well paced, with an intimate and immersive kind of filming. The order of the story is also immersive: it starts from the middle, when all protagonists are preparing to meet for the said pipeline blow-up. As the story unfolds, so does theirs. You must watch it all to understand what drove individuals to enrol in a highly dangerous sabotaging action. Cuts are made at critical times to bump up your stress level, and the whole thing is highly nerve racking — although the three people regularly chuckling in front of me may have disagreed.
My second reaction was wanting to cry. Through its upfront, bomb-blowing plot, the film highlights some very critical issues linked with the environmental emergency and fossil fuels crisis. In this storyline, the environment comes as a backdrop to the human victims of our exploitative system. From heat-waves-related death to expropriation and fatal illnesses caused by fumes in ‘clusters where people lived near refineries’, this film is about how the climate crisis kills. Each character is, for a reason or another, a collateral damage in the race to exploit earthly resources for profit. They have another thing in common: because of their ethnicity or their economic background, each of them is a member of an undervalued, already disadvantaged social category. Far from being a free-styling ode to violence, How to Blow Up a Pipeline offers deep insights into the range of climate injustice, bringing into the spotlight the way Indigenous people, people of colour and the poorer members of society are disproportionately affected by climate-related issues. A quote in particular resonated with me
‘When we were kids, we used to dance in the rain, like children do, except the rain would burn my skin.’
I’ve heard of acid rains before. But I realized, while hearing that line, that I had never pictured it. I had never really, truly imagined what it does to individuals who live in affected areas. This line comes as an explanation of why Theo, whose oil-related leukaemia is slowly killing her, is determined to be part of the plan. It is an answer to another piercing one:
‘She’s just another girl who went to college, read a book, and think she can save the world.’
As a middle-class white woman with two master’s degrees, whose knowledge of the environmental emergency and climate justice fights is largely based on reading relevant books and articles, it was difficult not to feel stung. As one quote quickly followed another, I felt submerged by a feeling of hopelessness, and worse, helplessness.
My third reaction was, henceforth, a long litany of self-pitying questions about the impact of my engagement, and of all engagements, for what matters. Watching this film, I felt like a small drop in an ocean of crisis. Thinking in terms of climate justice implies intersectional awareness of racism, classism, economic as well as environmental difficulties. Subtly, this film acts as an all-encompassing self-check, not of us as individuals, but of us as a society. I found it very powerful, and in all honesty, very overwhelming. For a few hours, it sent my eco-anxiety through the roof.
Luckily, it didn’t take me long to reason myself to the fact that this wasn’t the right reaction. I then moved into a fourth stage: figuring out how to positively channel the three previous ones. How to Blow Up a Pipeline is not there to stir despair — it is about despair, and how it can (and should) be used as a powerful catalyst for action. Now, I don’t believe ‘action’ has to be along the same lines as fabricating a homemade bomb to blow up a pipeline. There are obvious counterarguments to this. Debates over sabotage have been raging in the eco-activism world for a while, and this review is not there to bring an answer to them. At Climate Museum UK, we advocate for the many ways to take non-violent action. Education about the different, harrowing aspects of the environmental emergency is one of them. In the film, the leader of the group, Xochitl, expresses her frustration at the slow pace of activism, and the absence of immediate, truly meaningful result. I feel you, Xochitl. It is frustrating.
Which is why I’m here, writing this review. I believe everyone should see this film. It is a welcome wake-up call, that the current crisis is a human crisis, one that already affects, and will continue to affect, millions of people worldwide. One day, these people are going to be all of us. Whatever you think of the methods it exposes, this film is a disturbingly refreshing take on the importance of honesty, awareness, and accountability. On the importance of talking about these issues, showcasing them as much and as fast as possible. On the importance of changing the curriculum, organising workshops, reaching out to all communities, listening to stories, and showcasing the pain and the fear and the energy and hope. To me, this film was about putting pressure on your political representatives, boycotting guilty companies, calling out green-washers, buying a bike instead of a car, joining your local environmental charity. How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a hard film about violence inspired by the need to see the world change. I found it a hard indeed, and I hope it will inspire such change, hopefully without the need for violence.
The story of How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a work of fiction. However, issues around pipelines causing desacralisation of Indigenous land, expropriation and displacement of population, and site-specific surges in illnesses around the world are a real thing. You may have heard of the North Dakota Pipeline scandal, or the more recent EACOP. Truth is, incredibly shocking and depressing events that counteract all ecological logic are happening all over the world as we speak. If you find it as daunting as me, then I urge you to start talking about it, or find your own way to engage.
Before writing this review, I was struggling to make sense of the layers of conflicting feelings that this film had inspired. As I did so, a friend shared some valuable wisdom: there are many forms of eco-activism. Sometimes, it can be as simple as going to the cinema.
