David Suzuki’s life journey, from his childhood in World War II-era Canadian internment camps for Japanese residents to his career as a scientist, television star and eco-warrior, certainly merits a biographical documentary. However, both Suzuki and filmgoers deserve better than this fawning, superficial effort from Sturla Gunnarson, which doesn’t reveal much about the 75-year-old that couldn’t be found in a quick glance at his Wikipedia page. The man has to be more complex than the righteous teddy bear this film makes him out to be, but Gunnarson is content to engage in hero worship and uncritically transmit Suzuki’s (laudable) environmental message. Worse still, the director zooms in on his subject’s face every time Suzuki betrays any real emotion, a gimmick that makes even the raw moments feel contrived.
This article appears in Oct 21-27, 2010.