AllMovie

This gripping documentary on the probable consequences of pollution and toxic waste in Swedish farmlands is sure to give pause to any viewer. Director Stefan Jarl traveled around the countryside in Sweden filming the agonizing demise of birds and insects as they are caught in the dumping of chemical waste, and he talked to farm families whose members are suffering from neurological and other diseases (some fatal). The farming families are certain the chemicals and pesticides they use on the farm are responsible for their health problems -- and although Jarl does not interview industry representatives for their response or negation, it is difficult to argue with the families' logic. At times Jarl resorts to overdramatizing the differences between healthy and dying animals, or the parallels between the problem of pollution and other problems in the world, yet that does not detract from the valid points he makes in his observation of the farmers and their health problems.