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Home [Blu-ray]
$29.99
First, make no mistake, this is a must-buy for anyone with a large-screen HDTV and Blu-ray player; it contains the most stunning cinematography and sharpest HD available for home use. Secondly, it carries a message that should make it required viewing in any format, on any screen.

That this is a film with a point of view is an understatement. The unrelenting gloom of the narrative during the first 90 minutes or so, playing behind some of the most stunningly beautiful views of earth ever committed to film, has led some to label it a propaganda film for environmentalists; and the film unfortunately encourages that charge by an unnecessarily preachy tone. The use of the second person, "You are changing the planet" versus "We are changing the planet" makes one wonder if the producers and narrator consider themselves not to be a part of the same human race whom they are addressing. Furthermore, although I am moderately environmentalist, I take issue with the assumption that nature is beneficent and that humans are the only thing standing in the way of nature. There are two things wrong with this view: (1) nature is often cruel and destructive, whether one looks at the evil inflicted by microscopic viruses or monstrous storms--man may in some cases make these phenomena worse, but man did not create them; and (2) humans are a major part of nature itself, not just some alien attacker.

The producers of the film do attempt to strike a balance during the last 20 minutes of the film by pointing out what some countries are doing to slow, halt, or reverse the damage to our planet; but for both sides of the environmental debate, these 20 minutes come as too little, too late. The narrator states that it is "too late for pessimism" after a film that predominantly leaves the impression that it is too late for optimism, that it is too late for hope of reversing the overwhelming momentum built up by overpopulation in developing countries and overconsumption in the richest countries. One can only hope that the movie overstates the catastrophe that is already well under way on our planet; but even if the film's emphasis is skewed (I don't think it is), even if statistics are used selectively to drive its point home (probably true to some extent), and even if it got a few facts wrong, if even half of what it shows is correct, this is one of the scariest films one could possibly see.

A review of this disc in terms of whether or not one should buy it, or at least rent it, could pretty much end here--just get it! If you simply can't abide its message, either for political reasons, or just because you don't want to ruin your day, then watch it with the sound turned off, at least for the first time through. But we ignore its message at our peril. (OK, now I sound preachy; but watch the film; too much of it is simply irrefutable.)

To put on a critical hat, however, there are several things wrong with this film and its packaging. First I have to point out an irony: the Blu-ray version of this film adds its own little bit of environmental damage, and I don't refer to the natural resources required to produce and view it; these are more than justified by the positive impact it could have. Rather, I refer to the completely unnecessary and annoying use of Java to author this disk. This system prevents many or all Blu-ray players from being able to resume a video where the viewer left off; so if you want to watch half the film one day and the other half the next, you have to leave the player on, drawing a small amount of electricity, for as many hours or days over which you wish to spread your viewing. If you so much as press the stop button, you will not only have to wait through all the start-up loading (in several stages) and logos and piracy warnings, but also have to search for your place in the movie because not even a bookmarking function is provided. Many Blu-ray productions use Java to enable all sorts of bells and whistles, including interactivity over the Internet ("BD-Live"); but this disc has no special features; and I could see no benefit at all to the use of this obnoxious technology. To the producers: Use Java (make it do something worthwhile) or lose it!

This leads me to another curious thing about this production: lavish as the photography is, the product is otherwise skimpy, with no program booklet and no special features on the disc. This would not be so bad were it not for the fact that many of the interesting places filmed are not identified in the narrative or by titles, at least not until the very end, where it is done in retrospect. Much of this information is available on the Internet, at [...], an English-language version of the French site; but the "Home" Book itself is only in French. It's impressive that the foundation made this very attractive and informative book available on-line with all its photography and charts intact, and you can begin to get a feel for the magnificence of the pictures right there. In addition, if you want to subject the film's allegations to a fact-check, this book lays out its statistics. Even if you are like me, and know only a little bit of tourist French, I think you can decipher most of the book, which is also available for sale in hardcopy.

To be picky, there are lapses in the editing of the English narrative (faults that may not exist in the original French), with Close stating that there were no towns on Earth until 600 years ago. Huh? And she mispronounces several words, including "indefatigable," "superfluous," and "Qatar," which leads me to hope that the fact checking was more thorough than the final edit of the English soundtrack. But I'm glad they saved money in these aspects rather than in the filming itself, which, I cannot repeat often enough, is spectacular; and even if a few factual errors may have slipped in, the bulk of the information is fascinating, shocking, and vital.

Home: A Novel
$14.00
Marilynne Robinson's "Home" is hard to describe, but I'd say that it is more about emotional impact on the reader than enjoyment of story. The general theme of the prodigal's return is at the heart of the book. In this case though, the prodigal, though beloved by his family, is one of life's lost souls who cannot be redeemed completely.

It's brave of author Robinson to create characters that ultimately do not triumph. Redemption is usually a favored theme for readers and here they must settle for forbearance or endurance, with no hint of something better in the future. For the prodigal son, Jack Broughton, the author offers no hope of redemption or happiness.

Whether you enjoy this story or not, you can't help but be impressed by the spare beauty of Robinson's language that makes the scenes in an Iowa farmhouse come alive without embellishment or artifice.

Home (Horn Book Fanfare List (Awards))
$16.99
Jeannie Baker is no novice to this kind of subtle-changes-on-each-page book. However, her book "Window" --quite similar in approach-- left me feeling quite down and thwarted by urban overdevelopment and the loss of rural life. Quite opposite, "Home" bolsters one's spirits by depicting an area of urban decay turning gradually, over the period of some 20+ years, into a lovely urban oasis, complete with many trees, flowers, and shrubs and the reappearance of birds and animals. What's even better - it shows a family growing and thriving in the same environment and taking an active role in the neighborhood's change.

My four year old has asked for this book every day since we checked it out of the library, and I love it, too. A book that can appeal to multiple generations is a hands-down winner in my eyes.

Home: A Short History of an Idea
$16.00
Fascinating history of the home from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, with a focus on how the built domestic environment influences us and vice versa. The cultural focus is western and European.