IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT *
In the appalling docu mentary “If a Tree Falls,” a narrator referring to an arson attack by the Earth Liberation Front solemnly intones, “In one night, they had accomplished what years of picketing and writing had never been able to do.”
Well, yes — terrorism does make short work of red tape, doesn’t it?
The “hero” of this fatuous apology for eco-terrorism is a New Yorker named Daniel McGowan, who is presented as a political prisoner.
McGowan is a confused, bitter type who once tore all the labels off his sister’s unopened soup cans so he could recycle them — leaving her baffled as to which can was which. He spends his days under house arrest in a luxury Manhattan apartment while awaiting disposition of his case. He faces a number of criminal charges resulting from his admitted arson attacks on such targets as a lumber company and a horticulture research center at the University of Washington, which McGowan incorrectly believed was conducting genetic research.
“It’s hideous to be called a terrorist,” says this terrorist, who notes that no one was hurt in his attacks. When you burn down large areas, though, you can’t ever be sure of that. Firemen have to be called in, and they can die in the process. McGowan helped destroy millions of dollars worth of property.
Far from being put through the wringer — the movie keeps telling us he faces hundreds of years in prison — McGowan was let off easy, with a seven-year sentence. Though it is amusing watching the ring fall apart, “Goodfellas”-style, as the terrorists rat on each other, the film’s sense of grievance will be shared by few.