''''Silent Running'' is my all-time favorite movie, but I never expected to feel I was living it.''

A letter from a reader in NY state who is interested in cli fi nvoels. She writes:

 

"Dear Sir, Have you ever seen the Universal film "Silent Running" from 1970 or 71? ...[March 1972 IMDB says] ...Stars Bruce Dern with great soundtrack by Peter Schickele including vocals by Joan Baez. It was my favorite film as a kid, still is as I worry about Nature as I've known it coming to an end.

The movie doesn't mention climate per se -- I am not sure that the story goes into what exactly has happened -- but all the elements of ecological disaster are there, including human beings' short-sightedness and isolation from each other as well as the larger world. And it deals with the philosophical problem of eco-actvism: Is it okay to sacrifice people to save the ecosystem, or what's left of it?

The movie even depicts corporate sponsorship of the orbiting Domes that house what's left of the ecosystem along with what I think are terrific special effects showing the technological sophistication of a spiritually impoverished civilization.

The hero's memory of how things used to be on earth pits him against colleagues who have no memory of food being anything other than a brightly colored synthetic cube. I can relate as I get older.

I admit it, ''Silent Running'' is my all-time favorite movie, but I never expected to feel I was living it.

Could this movie interest the young people of today -- those who read cli-fi?

Sincerely,

Maria...

Age 52

Ithaca, NY