Damn ’em! Corporate types have proposed building five giant hydroelectric dams in Chile’s vast Patagonia, at the very bottom of South America, forever altering some the world’s most dramatic wilderness. Brian Lilla’s documentary “Patagonia Rising’’ makes a valiant effort to explore the issue, giving access to multinational corporations (build, build, build) and local activists (don’t mess with Mother Nature).
Lilla trots out standard talking heads on both sides, and mixes in graphics and (the movie’s strong point) gorgeous scenery. His is an important issue that needs to be discussed. But it will take more than this dry doc — best left to cable TV — to do the matter justice.