Ever since 1945’s Robert Oppenheimer-led Manhattan Project gave the world its first nuclear weapon, the nuclear arms race has run and run. Several nations are now in possession of viable nuclear weapons and despite the Cold War having ended 20 years ago, ridiculous numbers of wareheads and missiles remain active, able to be launched at the press of a button.
*****
Lawrence Bender, the producer behind the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth and Good Will Hunting, brings his considerable clout to bear in producing this fascinating and troubling documentary about the growth of the nuclear arms race. It goes without saying that there are far more viable nuclear weapons ready to be launched than could possible be sensible, but to find out just how easily the essential nuclear material can and does fall into the wrong hands is disconcerting to say the least.
Although the essential madness of the US and Russia pointing enough missiles at each other to create a new sun is made clear, the villain of the piece is presented here as a Pakistani by the name of A Q Khan, who saw fit to share bomb designs and nuclear weapons technology to pretty much anyone who was interested for many years. In addition, we are introduced to an assortment of everyday Joes, who in search of a little bit of extra money in their pockets have smuggled weapons-grade Uranium out of refineries. The fact that we are told that all of those who have been caught have been as a result of luck or fortunate accidents does not help one sleep at night.
This insightful, intelligent and alarming (though not alarmist) documentary starts off looking at nuclear weapons as a tool of terrorists and considers how easy it might be for terror groups to acquire nuclear weapons (the answer? Pretty easy). Having rattled our collective cage, the doc then goes on to commit the remainder (and indeed the majority) of its well measured, sleek running time to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, more recent steps to scale back, near-misses, close-calls and what can be and is being done to convince the world to decommission its nuclear arsenals.
Writer and Director Lucy Walker has amassed a mightily impressive array of contributors, including Jimmy Carter, Tony Blair, former Pakistani president Musharraf, F W de Clerk, Robert McNamara and Mikhail Gorbachev. In addition, several senior security advisors and scientific leaders chip in with considered and important observations about the relative ease of importing highly-enriched uranium and constructing viable and devastating weapons.
If this all sounds like heavy, depressing stuff, then at times it is. Occasionally the mood is lightened by amusing shots of missiles exploding on launch, until we realise that this could be a malfunctioning warhead and the laughter stops. But then this is a very serious subject and just like An Inconvenient Truth before it, warrants somber, sobering treatment. Only towards the end, when the likely result of a major detonation in a city centre is explained and described does the tone become a little more misjudged and hysterical, but by then we are sold. Nuclear weapons are a Very Bad Thing and te sooner we can safely dispose of them the better. As Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quite rightly says in one priceless interview, “if they are a good thing, why can’t we have them? If they are a bad thing, why do you have them?”
There are few easy answers on display, although de Klerk describes how he simply decided to decommission all of their weapons and re-join “the mainstream”. It is a step of such disarming simplicity and sanity, demonstrating how much of the arms race continues to be coloured by fear, suspicion and mistrust.
Whilst not “up there” with the very best documentaries of recent years, this is still very much in the vein of quality, engaging, intelligent non-fiction film-making that is continuing to grace our multiplexes. It is very much a “message” film, but manages to avoid being preachy or trite and continues to educate and entertain throughout its brisk running time. A real must-see, if only so that you can properly understand just how terrifyingly close we have come in the past to blowing ourselves into oblivion.
Countdown to Zero toured the world’s film festivals last year and is on general release in the UK from 24th June 2011.
[Rating:4/5]
Countdown To Zero is premiering on June 21st on Demand Zero Day and you can find where the movie is screening here.
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