Director:
Writers:
Olof Berglind (story editor), Peter Modestij (based on an idea and concept by)
Stars:
Malena Ernman, António Guterres, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Release Date:
Nov 13th via Hulu
‘I am Greta’ is a documentary about Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist known for protesting the inaction of her government when it comes to addressing climate change. At age 15, she took her voice outside of the classroom and onto the street where the Swedish Parliament is located to call for stronger action on climate change. This action has inspired and influenced missions of other young people as well as old to want to address climate change in their areas in support of Thunberg’s stance. She has been both a positive figure and also condemned by many other politicians and people who claim that she does not know what she’s talking about. This Hulu documentary explores her as a person, her life with her family, and the stance that she took, though it fails to tackle the subject that Greta is most passionate about.
Say whatever you want about Thunberg’s quest to tackle climate change, you cannot say that she isn’t courageous, hard-working, or intelligent. Seeing in this film her tenacity for going into these big government sessions and speaking with conviction and poise is astounding to me. There are some specific points in the doc, particularly her meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, that reveal her spirit and her determination to be heard. You can see both admiration and intimidation on Macron’s face as she asks him the hard questions about climate change and I was fascinated anytime she interacted with political leaders.
There are also some somber and personal moments showing Greta Thunberg interacting with her family, her day to day routines, and the moments where you see her being able to be a young girl and not a political activist. Her parents are incredibly encouraging of their daughter’s goals and even though you can see they are nervous about some of the publicity and spotlight that inevitably shines on Thunberg, they are always there by her side to support her and carry her.
Where I wish the documentary focused more on was on the things that Greta Thunberg wants the world to focus on– climate change. I understand this is a documentary about her, however, I feel after knowing what this film has shown me of Greta Thunberg, she would prefer it also focuses on the world and the climate and emphasize her call to action on fighting climate change. It all feels somewhat surface-level, not delving too deep into the real issues and that can make the film kind of drag on a bit.
Overall, if you want to know more about the person Greta Thunberg is then this is a fairly decent watch. If you are looking more into knowing what she stands for, you may want to check out resources into climate change and learn that way.