Reading the Environment on Screen
Eco-criticism is a field of study that explores the relationship between culture and the physical environment. In film studies, this approach, sometimes called “eco-cinemacriticism,” examines how movies portray the natural world and investigates the underlying ecological ideologies present in a film’s narrative and visual language. It moves beyond simply analyzing films with obvious environmental themes (like documentaries or disaster movies) to argue that every film makes implicit statements about the human relationship to nature.
Key Questions for an Eco-Critic
An eco-critical analysis of a film involves asking a series of specific questions:
- How is nature represented? Is it depicted as a sublime, pristine wilderness to be revered (as in many nature documentaries)? A monstrous and hostile force to be conquered or escaped (Jaws, Twister)? A passive resource to be endlessly exploited for human profit (There Will Be Blood)? Or a complex ecosystem of which humans are only one part (Princess Mononoke)?
- What ideologies are at play? Does the film support an anthropocentric (human-centered) worldview, or does it offer a more ecocentric perspective that values the non-human world?
- What is the film’s visual language? How does cinematography frame the landscape? Are there majestic wide shots that emphasize nature’s scale, or are there shots that frame it as property to be owned?
- What is the environmental footprint of the narrative? Do characters consume resources, travel, and dispose of waste in ways that are presented as normal and without consequence?
Expanding the Scope of Analysis
Eco-criticism demonstrates its power by applying these questions to films not typically considered “environmental.” A Western can be analyzed for its depiction of the “taming” of the wilderness and the displacement of Indigenous peoples. A science fiction film like Blade Runner (1982) can be read as a cautionary tale about a post-natural, toxic urban future where real animals are extinct. By doing so, eco-criticism reveals how deeply our cultural attitudes toward the environment are shaped and reflected by the stories we watch.