The Gentle Giant… is Bob Brown the most revolutionary Aussie politician we’ve ever had?
What’s?The Giants?about? A compelling and cinematic portrait of environmental ‘folk hero’ and gay icon Bob Brown, who took green politics to the centre of power at state and federal levels. This unique documentary interweaves Bob’s story with the life cycle of the ancient trees - “The Giants” - that he continues to fight for.
What’s?The Giants’ key social insight? It’s tough not to feel bleak at the overwhelming scale of the task ahead of us: to drag back the damage we’ve done to our planet’s climate. But The Giants stirringly proves that with passion, courage and a cheeky bit of peaceful disruption, no task is too big for the little guy to fight and win. As Bob Brown himself puts it: “There’s nothing a small group of people can’t do when the idea they’re espousing’s time has come.”
What social causes does?The Giants?explore? Environment.?Democracy & Politics.?LGBTQIA+.
Picture a calm, living being… one with a resolute, towering presence and its roots firmly planted in the Tasmanian soil. You might imagine a mighty Huon Pine, or maybe a Mountain Ash Oak, the equivalent of California’s Redwoods. But it could just as happily describe Dr Bob Brown -?activist, environmentalist and the first openly gay member?of Australia’s federal parliament.
Now nearly 80, Bob has dedicated over 50 years of movement to a voiceless entity that can’t move to defend itself: Australia’s forests. And it’s pretty handy that, as a bloke who realised that he needed to push the boundaries to make a difference,?his actions grabbed the headlines. From river blockades to tree sit-ins and bulldozer protests, Bob’s spirit rallied thousands of people from around the world, and the cameras followed.
Which means that filmmakers Laurence Billiet and Rachael Antony had decades of footage at hand to compile Bob Brown’s personal, political and conservational life story. That alone would make for?a compelling documentary about grit, belief and overcoming the odds.
But The Giants also tells the life story of another Tassie icon: the majestic (and, yes, giant) trees of the Tasmanian Southern Forests, the Styx Valley and the Takayna, the second-largest temperate rainforest in the world.?They’re among the tallest, oldest trees on earth?- fossil records show that Huon Pines have been growing in Tassie soil since Gondwanan times, around 40 million years ago. And thanks to some stunning animation techniques, we get to see them as they truly are: a vibrant network of buzzing, biological relationships.
Like the interconnected forests themselves,?The Giants interweaves the trees’ story with Bob’s. Through footage of Bob’s protests and political wins, we see all he’s achieved for the environment over his career. Then, the vivid 3D scans of the forests (narrated by experts like David Suzuki) show us first-hand how important it is to continue fighting for what’s left.
Keen to catch The Giants in cinemas??Hit this link?to discover where The Giants is screening near you!
What causes does?The Giants?explore?
Nature, naturally! Protectionism and environmentalism is at the forefront of The Giants. We’re already aware that the harmonious balance of our rich forest ecosystems?faces existential threats?- what The Giants spells out is?just how much?of a threat we continue to pose to the landscape in our very own backyard.
Australia still sports one of the?highest rates of deforestation in the developed world. We learn that, shockingly,?Australia ranked 60th out of 61 countries for our policy response to the climate crisis?(it should be noted, this was under the previous, Liberal government). Queensland still clears the equivalent of 1000 rugby fields a day, while Tasmania continues to log precious native forests… to produce, of all things, toilet paper. Pretty crap reason, right?
For all that, it could be so much worse without the actions of Dr Bob Brown - the man who set up the Wilderness Society in his own kitchen. We see him in 1983, as he leads a blockade (in inflatable rafts) to?stop the damming of the Franklin River. The action saw Bob arrested - along with 1400 other protestors - and jailed for 19 days. It turned out to be a small price to pay:?Bob was immediately elected as the first Green to the Tasmanian parliament, where he used iconic images of the Franklin river to target marginal Federal seats. This led directly to the Hawke Labor government taking power, quickly passing the?World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983. The Tasmanian Government was forced to abandon the Franklin Dam project, saving a critical wilderness ecosystem.
It’s far from Bob’s only win: his Green team held the balance of power in the Tassie parliament from 1989, where he managed to?double the size of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage area to 1.4 million hectares. In 1996, he was elected to the Senate, then in 2005 he became the first LGBTQIA+ political party leader, leading the Australian Greens until his retirement in 2012. And all that from a man who never liked the spotlight?and felt “shy at heart”.
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You realise that shyness has zero correlation with courage when you see?Bob challenging US President George W. Bush?during the president’s address to the Australian parliament (Bob was calling for the release of Aussies detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay). Can you imagine the state of your heartbeat if you were about to stand up and politely holler?at the President of the United States???Ours blew up just watching it.
What’s the key scene in?The Giants?
Yes, there are spectacular scenes of nature in The Giants - shoutout to the “climbing scientists” who rigged cameras atop the canopy more than 100 metres above the forest floor! And there are sequences that show Bob’s political savvy so clearly, like?using news cameras and media to do the heavy lifting: by filming his protests in nature, they were inadvertently showing voters everywhere the natural beauty that the ruling parties wanted to destroy.
But this is really a story about rights.?And it’s fascinating to realise that three strong themes - protecting our planet, queer rights and left-wing political ideology - converge so beautifully in Bob and his story. In a very real way, Bob has been fighting for rights his whole life: the right for a 2000-year-old tree to peacefully remain standing. The right to enjoy land that “belongs” to us all, not a corporate logging company. The right to love anyone, free of prejudice.
So it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come when Bob acknowledges that, in his 20s, he?voluntarily?submitted to electro-shock aversion therapy for his feelings of homosexuality. “It did nothing, of course,” Bob shares, but it left him feeling even more at sea with who he was as a person -?until a London psychologist advised him,?“Why don’t you be who you are? Why don’t you just accept it?”?Bob says it was a “circuit breaker” moment.
He promptly returned to Australia, coming out to his friends, his family, and publicly. We see the grainy news footage of the interview where he speaks, nervously but openly, about his sexual orientation. Then the footage of politicians and citizens at the time,?defiantly and openly labelling his lifestyle as perverted and shameful. The year was 1978 - when you could be “jailed… or worse” for homosexual acts.
What the scene underlines is a common thread to Bob’s life and actions: his resolute bravery. He’d shrug it off, but it’s his calm commitment to?always speak up for what’s right?that’s made him the beloved folk hero of Australian political activism - and arguably, one of our most impactful.
What are the reviews saying about?The Giants?
Fully on board, or disagree big time? We’d love to hear your take.?Leave a review to share your thoughts?with the good.film community!
So… why should I see?The Giants?
It’s tempting to say “this is the film for you!” if you’re passionate about nature, or protectionism, or queer rights, or the political landscape. Or even just a fan of seeing a meaningful life, well lived.?But in truth, The Giants is a documentary?everyone?should see.
Yes, you’ll be awed by the (truly wondrous) nature of our interconnected forests, stunningly brought to life on screen. But even more moving is hearing the story of a man who, for over 5 decades,?calmly stood up to his opposing forces?for what he truly felt was right and just - and refusing to get knocked down. Tree metaphor, anyone…!?
If one man can have this level of impact protecting his corner of the Earth, why not you? Far more than ‘just another nature doc’, The Giants ignites an urgent conversation:?about the right of the forest to exist. Bob began that story; our challenge is to write the next chapter.