LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 When the creators of 鈥淗ow to Blow Up a Pipeline鈥 initially set out to adapt the book of the same name, which critiques the docility of climate activism, director Daniel Goldhaber had in mind a very different movie than what they eventually made.
鈥淚 was very much in a place of anger and feeling very powerless and I was like, 鈥楲et鈥檚 make a big old propaganda piece,鈥欌 he said.
Goldhaber recalled his writing partners Ariela Barer, who also stars in the film, and Jordan Sjol talking him out of that place and convincing him that idea would ultimately 鈥渕ake for a very boring movie.鈥
They decided instead on a kind of heist thriller, which opens in theaters Friday, that follows a group of young activists who plot to take down an oil pipeline in West Texas. While the group is composed of people with starkly different backgrounds and reasons for being there, many of its members are and are united in their desperation to fight it 鈥 not unlike the young creative team themselves.
Neon's 鈥淗ow to Blow Up a Pipeline鈥 is decidedly less prescriptive than Andreas Malm鈥檚 2021 book, which argues that climate activists ought to look to past movements, such as the abolitionists and suffragettes, to see that substantial reforms in modern history have rarely been propagated by pacifism.
Goldhaber said he took into account critiques of the book and hopes the film is seen as a nuanced adaptation.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 a political viewpoint of the film, it鈥檚 not, 鈥楪o out and blow up a pipeline,鈥欌 he said.
But the movie does rely heavily on arguments that Malm puts forward, an idea which came from Sjol鈥檚 musings about 鈥渁dapting a work of academic theory into a movie,鈥 Goldhaber explained.
Malm is a scholar of human ecology, an interdisciplinary field of research that focuses on human relationships to their environments across cultures. In his work on the climate movement, Malm has been an outspoken critic of nonviolence and a proponent of property destruction, calling it the only viable response to the enduring power of the fossil fuel industry.
鈥淗ow to Blow Up a Pipeline鈥 joins a growing list of films exploring the issue of climate change and how best to fight it, from dark dramas like 鈥淔irst Reformed,鈥 to allegorical satires, such as Adam McKay鈥檚
Lukas Gage, who joins Barer and other breakout actors in the ensemble cast, recalled getting sent Malm鈥檚 book along with the script.
鈥淚 read the book first and I thought to myself, 鈥楬ow the hell is this going to be a narrative film?鈥欌 he said.
Already a fan of Goldhaber鈥檚 feature directorial debut, 鈥淐am,鈥 Gage was ultimately persuaded by what he felt was an important story that could facilitate conversations about a way forward in combatting the climate crisis.
鈥淏ecause of Congress鈥 failure to do anything about this, it has definitely made me think about what little we can do, but maybe not so little,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think it will stick with us forever.鈥
Gage鈥檚 character, Logan, is the obvious outlier of the group, a privileged punk motivated more by love for his girlfriend, Rowan (Kristine Froseth), than by his concern for the environment.
鈥淚 grew up in the punk scene in Los Angeles and also in activist spaces and those people are always there. Like, there鈥檚 always a Logan and a Rowan,鈥 Barer laughed. 鈥淲e wanted to have a degree of empathy for people coming in, being so well-meaning, while also unpacking the position their privileges would grant them.鈥
Despite his position of privilege, Logan鈥檚 character arc is a redemptive one, a point Goldhaber felt was important to make.
鈥淪omething that was really inherent in the DNA of the project was to just try to combat some of these narratives that I think kind of create a self-perpetuating toxic culture on the left, like the narrative that we can鈥檛 come together,鈥 he said.
Goldhaber, who is the son of climate scientists, said he hopes the film adds vulnerability and complexity to their theoretical source material.
鈥淚 think that there鈥檚 something very provocative in that idea,鈥 he said.
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