Ark (1970) User Reviews

Powerful, effective, and disturbing

[Pharoiste · 7/10 · 4 June 2005]

I recently remembered viewing this short film in a science class when I was in junior high, around 1980 or so, and I did a few searches on it. Unsurprisingly, I found very little, since it's very obscure (as is evidenced by the lack of votes and comments here).

And that's a shame, because "Ark" is an excellent film. Set in a near-future Earth where most species are extinct and humans must wear gas masks outdoors because the atmosphere is too polluted to breathe, one man (never named in the film) finds a pond with some small breath of life left in it, builds a greenhouse around it, and delicately but diligently tries to bring it back to life. For a film that's this short, I can't say much more about the plot without starting to get into spoilers, so I'll leave the plot outline at that.

The imagery and atmosphere of the film are very powerful and effective, but the film's relentlessness does make it difficult to watch because its vision, apart from the metaphorical "ark", is very dystopian. Everyone outside wears gas masks and drab clothing, making them appear more like drones than human beings. The sky is always overcast, and the world is colorless, lifeless, dirty, and bleak. The viewer gets a real feeling of actually being in a world that's been utterly ruined by man's short-sightedness. (The only relief from all of that is the scenes in the pond, with the alga and small fauna and the man gently tending to them -- a sharp contrast to the bleakness of the rest of the planet.) The overall impact on the viewer is pretty "heavy", but then, that's the director's whole point -- and that kind of highly effective emotional impact is one of the hallmarks of a very well-made film.

Very, very difficult to find, but if you can manage to, or if you hear of it playing anywhere, do see it. And let me know as well, since I'd like to see it again, too.

I'm pleased to be the first to be able to offer IMDb readers some feedback on this excellently-crafted short.

Very Moving -- Good Earch Science Film for Teens

[johnteal · 9/10 · 10 June 2009]

Saw this film once in the early 1970's (via 16mm projector--ah, the memories). I was in junior high school--40 years ago. I have never forgotten this films strong visuals and message. As case in point; I was at work today and someone said something about a turtle which instantly brought back a scene from the film.

I Googled around and found this single thread. Now, armed with the title, I'm going to try and buy it somehow. My wife teaches high school Biology and should really get her to show it to her students. Now that I'm thinking about this film, there are some other really great shorts from the 60's and 70's I'm remembering too. OK IMDb, let's see what we can find.

Thanks IMDb

Teacher here

[guerrakathy · 8/10 · 19 December 2020]

I have been searching for this film. I showed this film (on reel to reel) in my 7th grade biology class during our ecology unit. Some of the kids really got it. There is almost no dialogue so it is hard for students to sit still and watch. I think students today would not have the attention span or patience to sit through it (it is about 45 min at most). Some of them asked what it was about, they didn't get it. I wish that I could find it. Back in the early 80s I would borrow this from the public library education rental.

Very Memorable

[Ares-10 · 10/10 · 21 September 2005]

The previous post explains it all very well. I too saw this in a classroom around 1990. I have never forgotten it. I remember it being very low on color and remember a greenhouse and even some people with gas masks acting almost like beasts. It was very creepy and therefore memorable. Let's hope the world doesn't end up like this movie thinks it could. The film might have even been shown in my school on a filmstrip projector rather than a VCR. I have been trying to find a copy of this for years and I just realized that IMDb is cool enough to at least mention it. I would recommend this in a second because you will never forget it.

Powerful, But Inappropriate for Grade School

[bigbenny-59463 · 4/10 · 26 September 2017]

I remember watching this movie in second grade, back in 1975. The message resonated and it left an impression on me about how the earth, as we were living, was going to become a hellish wasteland. I still recall people outside the phone booth rapping at the glass to get a breath of cleaner air.

Fast forward to engineering school, where I learn about The Ehrlich-Simon Wager. To summarize, Paul Ehrlich, the author of 'The Population Bomb' written in 1968, lost, and lost decisively, to the economist Julian Simon. Simon wagered that humanity, despite putting strains on the environment, finds innovative ways to overcome challenges (be they environmental, economical, or social), as long as we don't over-tax or over-subsidize scarce resources which have alternative uses.

Fast forward to the 'Peak Oil' scare, where scientists calculated that oil production would peak in the 2000s and would diminish from there, driving prices higher and radically transforming our economies....

Didn't happen.

Innovation again came up with new ways of drilling for these resources. They are finite, but they will not run out in my lifetime.

Fast forward to today. I look back on The Arc as a film that, while it can be shown in Jr High, along with some context, I find inappropriate to show to young, highly impressionable grade school kiddies.

Earth has not become a hellish place, at least not to those who live in developed countries. Not because of environmental activism, but through more efficient use of scarce resources. I would say that the closest thing on earth to a living hell would be those countries who live under socialism/communism.

To those who would answer that our climate is going to warm considerably with the geometric release of CO2 into our atmosphere, I would just remind you that it's easy to grab money and attention by fear-mongering. But I love science too much to see it politicized as it is, and that someday cooler heads will prevail and we will come to a gradual understanding that increased CO2 will warm the planet a bit, but not to the extent that subsidized scientists say it will, and that innovations in solar power will disrupt the energy industry in ways that we cannot (yet) envision, but that we need to have cheap energy to propel people out of poverty.

And that's why, looking back on this movie, it seems so dated. If you feel we should show it to children, then I ask you if it is fine to show 'Scared Straight' to the same kids? Both are driven by religious fanaticism.