I won't take the whole merit of this documentary as an informative work (to a certain extent and perspective) since there are a great deal of things
to be looked upon and analyzed with care and attention. It was fresh from the events of the incident at the Three Mile Island power plant in 1979 and it concerns
about the dangers of nuclear power and how the incident affected the Harrisburg community in Pennsylvannia. Gathered here are locals who heard the warning signs
and alarms, and they also share about their sick livestocks and the fears they had with possible contamination of water and soil; cientists, teachers and experts
who talk about radiation levels and their effects and how political administrations were dealing with the issue with another power plants.
Many interesting topics are discussed and presented. However, one must also take into consideration that as a fresh experience it can also be seen as an alarming and panicking way to expose things, and fear and alarm were used as tools to exagerate and twist things for a cause (a quite good one though, which is against nucelar energy use). I know I'm talking from a priviliged point of view, 40-something years later and with plenty of material seen on the internet and other medias that state that the Three Mile Incident situation wasn't all so chaotic and critical as this film labels, or at least this very film wasn't listed among the research from experts or media types to prove exactly the damage extent with the sick animals as shown by the locals. But it's all I have and one can sense when things are being told and shown in order to provoke an emotional response or show some urgency. It probably had done a little for the cause; as for today it's something of slightly curious view because it was close to the situation and one can get a dark and depressive perspective on how people felt at the time.
"We Are the Guinea Pigs" has its fine and gripping moments. Problem is that goes for too long, excessive with its repetition of alleged facts that at times contradict each other or the numbers given on certain scenarios feel wronged or confusing; also repetitive images of people swimming at the nearby river; and it's also quite erratic with some of its editorial presentation by showing a musical group performing scathing and sarcastic songs about Three Mile Island and nuclear power (great lyrics though) which is a little distracting and never used as an ironic state of things as some filmmakers do; and the glitches. Let's talk about the countless glitches that appear after 40 minutes into the film, with images moving as if someone was fixing an old TV antenna with those grey bars moving around from time to time, and sound glitches that at times mute what the interviewed individual is talking and we end up missing small chunks of what's being said. It's almost a whole hour with those glitches coming and going all the way until the end credits roll.
In a twisted way, watching this is basically the same experience one has while watching old news clips and seeing the initial media coverage. It's all confusing, hardly ever detailed since the TMI personnel kept stonewalling some information and you only get a portion of the story, never the whole until years later. You get some information, some insights but bear in mind that there was a whole chain of events that came afterwards and a majority of info shown here isn't near the absolute truth about the incident. On a wider thought-provoking scope it's interesting to see the world before Chernobyl. 4/10.
Many interesting topics are discussed and presented. However, one must also take into consideration that as a fresh experience it can also be seen as an alarming and panicking way to expose things, and fear and alarm were used as tools to exagerate and twist things for a cause (a quite good one though, which is against nucelar energy use). I know I'm talking from a priviliged point of view, 40-something years later and with plenty of material seen on the internet and other medias that state that the Three Mile Incident situation wasn't all so chaotic and critical as this film labels, or at least this very film wasn't listed among the research from experts or media types to prove exactly the damage extent with the sick animals as shown by the locals. But it's all I have and one can sense when things are being told and shown in order to provoke an emotional response or show some urgency. It probably had done a little for the cause; as for today it's something of slightly curious view because it was close to the situation and one can get a dark and depressive perspective on how people felt at the time.
"We Are the Guinea Pigs" has its fine and gripping moments. Problem is that goes for too long, excessive with its repetition of alleged facts that at times contradict each other or the numbers given on certain scenarios feel wronged or confusing; also repetitive images of people swimming at the nearby river; and it's also quite erratic with some of its editorial presentation by showing a musical group performing scathing and sarcastic songs about Three Mile Island and nuclear power (great lyrics though) which is a little distracting and never used as an ironic state of things as some filmmakers do; and the glitches. Let's talk about the countless glitches that appear after 40 minutes into the film, with images moving as if someone was fixing an old TV antenna with those grey bars moving around from time to time, and sound glitches that at times mute what the interviewed individual is talking and we end up missing small chunks of what's being said. It's almost a whole hour with those glitches coming and going all the way until the end credits roll.
In a twisted way, watching this is basically the same experience one has while watching old news clips and seeing the initial media coverage. It's all confusing, hardly ever detailed since the TMI personnel kept stonewalling some information and you only get a portion of the story, never the whole until years later. You get some information, some insights but bear in mind that there was a whole chain of events that came afterwards and a majority of info shown here isn't near the absolute truth about the incident. On a wider thought-provoking scope it's interesting to see the world before Chernobyl. 4/10.
