If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front

In a world where dissenters are equated to terrorists, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to raise a voice against the corrupt systems. It seems that what we’re expected to do is complacently submitted to all that happens around us, or else, put all that we have at stake in an effort that’s likely to be useless in budging the system.

However, in the documentary, ‘If a Tree Falls’, we see a man, Daniel McGowan, who decides that no force is strong enough to stop him from doing what he believes is right. Daniel is a member of a new-age revolutionary movement, ‘The Earth Liberation Front’, which is determined to save whatever little is left of the environment from the leaders of the nation, who think that they have the authority to do whatever their heart may please, in the name of progression. Daniel, along with his allies, is termed as the ‘number one domestic terrorist threat’, and is even subjected to life imprisonment when he poses the threat of a multimillion loss to the Oregon Timber Company. However, he isn’t one to step back, and as he continues his fight for justice with full zest and determination, director Marshall Curry documents each step of his fight, ultimately offering us a film that’s deeply inspiring and thought provoking.

The efforts of the ELF members to do their bit for restoring the ecological balance by targeting timber companies may seem futile at first sight, considering how insignificant their effort is in the global scenario. But as you look deeper, you realize that a revolution, no matter how limited, is more powerful than one can believe. Along with doing their bit for the environment, the biggest purpose that they serve is that they urge people from all across the globe to step forward and protest against their governments.