"The Unforeseen" to Screen
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
The specific story may be Austin’s, but the dilemma is close to universal: a treasured civic amenity (Barton Springs, say) inevitably attracts the attention of developers, who want to reshape the natural world in a more profitable manner (by installing sprawling subdivisions, for instance), threatening in the process the very goose that laid the golden egg. Conflict and lack of hilarity ensues, and eventually, almost always, the goose dies.
That’s the broad-brush outline of the substantially more nuanced The Unforeseen, produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, and directed by Laura Dunn. The film premiered at Sundance last year. You can read the Observer’s review here. Or read our 2001 profile of director Dunn here.
The film opened its theatrical run in Austin last weekend.
Check out the Alamo Draft House South Lamar screening schedule here.
If you already have a read on this story from your time in the Austin trenches, you’ll want to see what the filmmakers got right and/or wrong. If you’re a newbie, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better (or prettier) primer on this town’s defining development/preservation dynamic.
See and discuss.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:23 am
What a beautiful movie. I encourage everyone to go see it!