All Fall Down

Finally rolling out across Canada, Collapse is the documentary of the year and here's why.

Collapse is story about how the world ends, as told by "independent journalist" Michael Ruppert.

In an empty room (an old meat-packing plant) Ruppert sits and smokes and describes the shape of doomsday.

This is a warning, a rant about peak oil, climate change, the economic crisis and literally end of civilization as we know it.

Marshaling facts and figures, aided by campy newsreel footage Ruppert explains why this generation will be the last to enjoy SUVs and long drives to the mall. And according to Ruppert we don't have long, so start stocking away those canned goods and organic seeds now.

It may sound paranoid, but the film is surprisingly persuasive. Director Chris Smith helps by staying out of the way. It's just Ruppert, a dark room, and enough smoke to kill the Marlboro Man. Occasionally Smith challenges Ruppert from off camera but it's not much of a debate.

Smith wisely leaves Ruppert's personal details until the end of the film. That and what Smith leaves out would undercut the impact of the tale. But in the end the movie works on two levels; either as a warning or an examination of the storyteller.

Forget 2012, here's your real disaster. Don't miss it.