Into Eternity: A Film for the Future

A white and eerie endless tunnel blasted out of the rock leads us in to the sinister yet strangely lyrical world of nuclear waste storage. The frozen trees of Finland lead us along icy tracks to something which must be beautiful, but no, it is the wicked giant who lives below the earth. We must never ever disturb him. Michael Madsen has produced and presents this film for the future with great love and concern for his fellow humans and the planet. Striking a match from within the dark and deep tunnel, a permanent tomb for nuclear waste, his face partially lit by the diminishing flame, Madsen speaks like a prophet/poet as he addresses the future and explains the dangers of disturbing this alchemical product entombed beneath the rock. He interviews the Finnish and Swedish scientists of the Onkalo project whose job it is to lock this stuff away and their philosophical dilemma about its whereabouts. Should we leave a marker warning DANGER KEEP OUT or should the site be unmarked and forgotten in the hope that it will truly never be disturbed. In this case never means, 100,000 years. Filmed across a large shiny desk with harsh lighting these poor men look anguished and disturbed by their responsibilities, almost to the point of nervous collapse. The footage of clear icicle-like rods containing the waste being lowered into shafts and water pools is like watching a ballet performed by gigantic molecules operated by an invisible hand. Everyone should see this film. It is a disturbing testament to our brightly lit lives which we continue to take for granted at our and the planet's peril.

Even if you have no interest in where energy comes from or in nuclear technology, this documentary is so beautifully filmed and produced that there is enjoyment in just watching it.

The core question posed by this documentary is: how do you warn countless future generations, for 100,000 years to stay away from the radioactive waste? The documentary maker asks questions of the people involved. Their responses are often chilling.

There is also some dark humor in it - the expressions on the faces of the nuclear power executives when asked what happens after hundreds or thousands of years have passed.

An extremely important documentary for this moment in history. Everyone should watch this.

If you want to be informed about the problems of nuclear energy in a clear, balanced and intelligent way, you've come to the right place.

This film really opened my eyes and my conscience to what I and all my other fellow human beings are doing with our planet and the serious problems we pass down to future generations.

I felt the style of the film passed to the topic: slow shots, for example showing just how long it takes to build this underground nuclear waste storage facility. And then this has to remain untouched for thousands of years! Great illustration and comparison to these unimaginable time scales. So, also a very appropriate title: Into Eternity.

This is a very necessary film for everyone living today. I hope many people watch it. It can make our world a better place.

it's after 2am in the morning here and I actually signed up just to applaud the quality of the documentary and it's significance to the thoughts it may engender in you on the legacy that we leave behind and lastly to admonish a review of 1 star.

this is a singularly unique documentary and well worth your time to view and review it in your own mind.

the music is interwoven throughout the piece and until the end credits roll you find that you were unaware of the music though you'll find yourself scanning the credits for the music section as it adds so much to the piece.

peace out. David.

If you look only at the subject matter which is building a long 3 mile tunnels down 500 meters into bed rock it sounds more like a theme that you would see on a television series like mega structures filled with high-tech, how did they do it kind of thing. Here, however, the technology to do this project is hardly mentioned as digging deep holes in the ground such are used in mining has gone on a very long time. Here instead we see more of a scene about timelessness and about the unknown. Of course we have a pretty remarkable project being constructed and then filled over a 100 year period named Onkalo. As no one will be involved in both the start and the completion of the project when finished, the plan is to abandon the structure and hope that no one will attempt to enter for at least 100,000 years. The deep moodiness of the film with its haunting music and barren forest scenes with gray landscape tries to force you into a mood of the vastness of time. To put this into perspective, the pyramids were built about 4000 years ago, though we think cave dwellers lived 30,000 years ago and maybe humans have actually been around for 100,000 years. But will they even exist as long as this storage facility is supposed to? No one knows. When it is sealed in 2120 do we just forget about it or do you warn people about it? Will warning people make them want to explore? Will there still be humans like we are, or will they be much different as we are to Neanderthal man. These are some of the things discussed in the film. It is short, only one hour and 15 min. The director likes long sweeping zooming in traveling shots. This work definitely gives you a feeling that you don't get from many films, but one not easy to describe. Near the end of the film as two workers are just walking into one section of the tunnel it in itself is totally non-remarkable and could be shot in any mine or cave in the world but the mood of the scene and the music behind is effective and you get some feeling that it is actually quite difficult to create something you hope will last 100,000 years. A unique film and the mood it imparts makes it worth more than one viewing.