- A lawyer defends a rural community whose environment is poisoned by the toxic discharges from a factory.
- "Dark Waters" is based on a true story to update the actions of industrialists.
- The director of "Carol" delivers a powerful and militant film with the help of Mark Ruffalo, very involved in the project.
When Mark Ruffalo proposed to Todd Haynes to stage Dark Waters , the director of Carol and the Museum of Wonders was carried away by the enthusiasm of the actor. "I was so stunned by the scale of the pollution scandal caused by the DuPont company that I signed up right away," he confides to 20 Minutes .
The filmmaker was passionate about Rob Bilott, this lawyer (played by Mark Ruffalo) who discovered how the firm contaminates the water of Virginian peasants with its chemical discharges, knowingly poisoning the population with its non-stick products placed on kitchen utensils and clothes. “I did not know that the damage was so great and that it has been going on since the 1950s, admits the filmmaker. How can we not feel concerned by this problem which affects the environment and public health? "
Transforming reality into fiction
Todd Haynes therefore delivers his most realistic film to date by plunging into the unequal fight between a determined lawyer and a powerful multinational. "I always liked the different characters, on the margins, those who risk everything to make their ideas triumph without worrying about their own interests," he says. Robert Bilott is one of those who fought without worrying about the consequences on his career with the support of his wife played by Anne Hathaway. "Transforming their story into fiction was not an easy task because I found myself faced with a huge amount of documentation that had to be summarized to extract the essentials," recalls Todd Haynes.
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Entertain and make you think
This militant film evokes works like Erin Brockovich (2000) by Steven Soderbergh or Révélations (1999) by Michael Mann by taking on the appearance of a thriller to denounce the extremes to which the lure of gain can lead. "I'm not naive," says Todd Haynes. I don't think that manufacturers will change their practices overnight after watching my film. Certain scenes, such as a chilling discussion between the lawyer and the manager of the company he accuses, however, are enough to freeze blood. " Dark Waters is an entertainment film with a little something that should make you think," says Todd Haynes. After having seen it, the spectator reads carefully what material is made of his frying pan.
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- Mark ruffalo
- Cinema outings
- Cinema
- Anne hathaway