Mark Grieco - A RIVER BELOW

Deep in the Amazon, the population of the indigenous pink river dolphin is dwindling. Docile and easy to catch, this near-mythical animal is being hunted to extinction and used as bait for scavenger fish. But two activists are each working tirelessly to raise awareness and protect the species. On the one hand a marine biologist and on the other a famous TV star, each has their own very different approach to their one common goal. As the battle to save the pink river dolphin intensifies, the effort to direct the public’s attention to the issue becomes increasingly difficult. When a scandal erupts, ethical questions are raised as murky as the waters of the Amazon River itself. What sacrifices are acceptable in the battle for this endangered animal and what are the grander social, economic and environmental issues involved? Mark Grieco’s (Marmato) surprising documentary digs into the ethics of activism in the modern media age.

A RIVER BELOW opens in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 3rd and if you live in or near one of those cities, I highly recommend you check it out. To hear my conversation with Mark, click play on the embedded player below.

Comments

Explaining the Ending of No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a tense, spare, and philosophical thriller that upends traditional narrative expectations. While it contains the elements of a crime drama—drug deals, hitmen, shootouts—it refuses to follow a conventional path. By the time the film ends, the central conflict seems unresolved, the villain walks away, and the protagonist we’ve been following disappears offscreen. To understand the film’s ending, one must look beyond plot and consider its themes: fate, violence, moral decay, and the erosion of order in the modern world. The Narrative Setup The story begins with Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a Vietnam veteran who discovers a drug deal gone wrong in the Texas desert and makes off with $2 million in cash. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a remorseless hitman, is sent to retrieve the money. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a weary and introspective lawman, tries to make sense of the violence unfolding around him. At first glance, the film appears to set up a c...

Explaining the Ending of MULHOLLAND DRIVE

David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive remains one of the most haunting and enigmatic films ever made. It operates like a riddle that refuses to be solved, luring the viewer into a world where time, memory, and identity dissolve into one another. What begins as a mysterious, almost whimsical Hollywood fairy tale gradually transforms into a psychological nightmare. By the end, it’s clear that what we’ve been watching is not a mystery to be unraveled but an emotional landscape, the mind of a woman caught between fantasy and despair. The film tells the story of two women, Betty Elms and Rita, whose lives intertwine after Rita survives a car crash and loses her memory. Betty, a bright and optimistic aspiring actress freshly arrived in Los Angeles, takes her in. Together, they embark on an investigation into Rita’s identity, which unfolds like a noir detective story bathed in dreamlike light. Everything about this world feels heightened: Betty’s charm, the coincidence of events, and the ease with w...

Explaining the Ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is a masterpiece of science fiction cinema, known for its ambitious themes, pioneering visual effects, and cryptic storytelling. The film culminates in one of the most enigmatic endings in cinematic history, as astronaut Dave Bowman undergoes a surreal journey through a cosmic gateway and is transformed into a new lifeform known as the "Star Child." To understand the ending, one must consider the film’s structure, symbolism, and philosophical inquiries into human evolution, technology, and transcendence. The Journey to the Infinite The final act begins after Dave Bowman disconnects HAL 9000, the malfunctioning AI that had killed his crew. Alone on the spaceship Discovery One , Bowman continues toward Jupiter, following a signal emitted from a monolith discovered on the Moon earlier in the film. These monoliths—rectangular, black, and featureless—are central to the film’s themes. Each appearance marks a leap in human evolution:...

FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

Search This Blog