Water on the Table

Water on the Table (WOTT) is impeccably photographed by Steve Cosens and Marshall with stunning images of water in its various awe-inspiring forms, movements and moments. There is also plenty of footage of people talking about the issues and doing good things, but the motif of the sanctity of water runs throughout (no pun intended) and connects the whole film as an homage to this life element that most in the minority world take for granted most of the time.

At least one reviewer has completely missed this point and has brashly harangued the filmmaker for including so many shots of water in a film, um, about water. It is precisely this aspect of WOTT that make it exemplary from other films on the topic: Marshall's treatment of the private-versus-public debate around water is far from doc pablum. Her film, like McMahon's Waterlife, is a thoughtful and aesthetically robust approach to an issue that has been picked apart with impersonal (but important) data in so many other "water docs." So if you're looking for a number-crunching, experts-overload talking-heads documentary you've come to the wrong water film. If you're looking for a film that cuts to the core issues of values, beliefs, ethics, responsibility and drive around the issue of water as a right and not a commodity you have indeed found the right film. Not that facts and figures aren't in Marshall's documentary – they just, thankfully, do not take a lead role.

Instead, much of the film (between the gorgeous and meditative water sequences) is devoted to the people whose lives are touched by the fight over water, especially "water warrior" and Council of Canadians president Maude Barlow. The film follows Barlow from UN sessions to rallies near the tar sands in Alberta and other sites along the conflict-ridden path to freeing water from the hungry maws of corporations and complicit governments. WOTT also smartly introduces audiences to others touched along this route, including and not insignificantly, First Nations communities in Canada. Providing some space for the "bad guys" the film also gives voice to those who oppose Barlow and the drive to make water a universal right for all. An especially telling moment comes when one such corporate player complains that there is no reason Canadians should sit on all that water and say, "You can't have it." It's a Sell! Sell! Sell! moment indeed.

Water on the Table is an essential component of the larger project of not only understanding the commodity-human right dichotomy around water, but of the ongoing campaign to wrest this life force from wanton and reckless profit-seeking entities. With top-shelf celebrities like Aniston flogging tap water in bottles, giant companies like Nestle and Coca-Cola practically commodifying waterfalls and projects like the Alberta Tar Sands polluting and ruining vast quantities of drinkable, fresh, clean water the water-as-a-right campaign needs all the help it can get. WOTT doesn't disappoint as a tool for this educational, political, ethical and economic battle.

For a film called "Water on the Table" there is remarkably little information on water, its commodification, its trends in usage, its cleanliness, its history. Basically, this film uses up about 1/4 of screen time for Maude 'in transit' in taxis, airports, and looking at her luggage. It spends another 1/4 of screen time on her hands, her legs, her fingers, her eyes. Another 1/4 of the visuals are close-up shots of flowing water. This only leaves 1/4 of screen time to actual content of any interest. It's not for lack of material to present, the film makers could have given us examples of private water takeovers in other countries, could have provided statistical data on water consumption in Canada with a breakdown of public and commercial use, could have presented trends in precipitation, lake and river levels, changes in composition, contamination. The film also could have given other examples of countries where water rights are progressing, but no none of these issues was ever addressed.

In fact, one of the most glaring omissions is a response to an argument presented by privatisation forces: "people who pay for their water are more likely to take care of the resource". This is an argument one hears quite often. Interestingly, corporations are pushing for individuals to pay for their water, but conveniently, it is NEVER suggested that corporations should pay for their extraction of water!! How convenient to say corporations ought to get it free, while pushing for individuals to pay for it. This seems typical of the Council of Canadians, they consistently fail to present a cohesive argument, which is sad because their cause is in itself a just one, but they lack the intellectual integrity to stay the course within a wider spectrum of criticism. This film is little more than a propaganda piece for the Council of Canadians and its hero and fails to inform viewers about the many future problems with the world's water supply.

Water on the Table, for me, was a brilliant example of people power lead by an unstoppable woman, Maude Barlow. Watching Maude's unwavering efforts to take on the corporations and governments who value money more than life itself was inspiring. She truly is a rock, and has no time for untruths - she is amazing to watch.

Liz Marshall's cinema verite styled film allows us to be so close to Maude on her journey, we truly feel like we are there. We are a part of the issue, and a part of the solution, and watching this doc will open your eyes to the realities of just how desperate Canada's, and the World's, fresh water issues truly are - they are our issues and Water on the Table will make you care.