The River and the Wall

This movie could be best described as The Socialist Manifesto illustrated by Reubens. The filmmakers created a beautiful film that shows the value of what we must to preserve - albeit with highly questionable scientific, ecological, biological, and social data. The conclusion / findings were obviously pre-determined, as the information selected for the movie re-enforced the open border solution (but then we must keep in mind that two members of the crew were children of parents who entered the country illegally). They included politicians who vilified the President without producing any information about the negative affects of illegal immigration.

In my opinion, they should have focused on the river and an honest assessment of the ecological impact. Having a bird-watcher talking in a very sad voice about the impact a wall would have on bird populations is a bit silly, as the impact would be minimal on the bird populations. Having someone point out that Americans will not be able to enjoy the pristine northern shore of the river, then show people fishing on a heavily littered southern shore that is bare of all flora and fauna doesn't really make the case very well.

Maybe their next movie can focus on how we could increase the rate of legal immigration and temporary workers, eliminating the need for fences and walls.

Part of me has been on the fence about the giant immigration problems dominating the news over the last few months. But seeing this movie has literally opened my eyes. The vistas and panoramic shots left me gasping in my theater seat and by the way DO NOT watch this on a phone or computer. Go to a theater and see it large. Everybody has an agenda, and most of the people in front of TV cameras these days are shouting and gesticulating about theirs. Here is a lower key, rational, thoughtful and emotionally careful presentation that does not try to be authoritative or have the last word. It asks you to think and reflect and accept.

The cinematography is as beautiful as the land and the river. It's an engrossing look at the place and the habitat, going far beyond what words can convey.

This picture of the place, the river, the land, the plants, the animals, the weather -- that's the great strength of the film. The river and the adjacent lands and people are the stars of this film. Embedding these in a journey provides a strong framework.

About half the film is spent on political preaching and talking heads, overlapping. I'm totally in agreement with the sermon, but no one else's mind is likely to be changed. I'd have kept the focus on nature, which I think brings more understanding to the table. Perhaps I knew too much already -- friends who are normally sensitive to preaching weren't as bothered.

Go to see it and enjoy it, but go prepared to tune out the political preaching unless you are one of the rare undecided birds or need to study the issues further.

The River and the Wall was warmly and enthusiastically received at its world premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. This is a amazing and unique film. The filmmakers capture the journey as a group travels down the entire 1200 mile length of the Rio Grande portion of the US (Texas) - Mexico border from El Paso to Brownsville. They spend two months on bicycles, horses and canoes traveling the entire river boundary. The filming is exquisitely beautiful. This powerful documentary seeks to redefine how we see the border as less of international boundary where Trump plans to build a wall and more of complex ecosystem and thus sheds a new light on how our political debate is framed. The River and Wall is beautifully filmed and presents an eye-opening examination of the border. It deconstructs our idea of the border itself. In doing so it argues that a border wall is not only a humanitarian disaster, but an ecological one as well. It is an important perspective that has been mostly absent from our debate about the moronic idea of building a border wall. The film also includes the personal perspective of the team that makes the journey and some of the local residents. The film is supplemented by interviews with former Congressman Beto O-Rourke (D-TX) and current Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX) who share a bipartisan opposition to building a border wall. This is an emotional and provocative film which needs to be widely viewed as antidote to the absurd arguments about building a border wall.

This was a beautiful documentary, with a great message. There is a lot of insisting that a boarder wall would solve the United States problems, the doc goes into how a large structure like the wall would really be a pain in the ass, and more of a problem than what it's worth. But the doc isn't all about politics it also has large chunks of the doc with great nature and wildlife footage bundled in.