DocTalk: Tapped
A documentary requires more than a serious topic to be truly compelling. Sadly, Tapped is proof of this.
Tapped, is a documentary directed by Jason Lindsey and Stephanie Soechtig exposing the corruption and exploitative practices of the bottled water industry. It’s a film with the best of intentions that just doesn’t know the best way to deliver its message, resulting in a final product that is every bit as dull as you would expect a documentary about water to be.
To its credit, the film is well edited and takes a well-rounded approach to the issue, addressing climate change’s impact on the water market, the accumulation of plastic pollution from ineffective recycling systems and the health effects that plague citizens living close to the bottling plants. The documentary addresses an important subject but its delivery is so dry (pun somewhat intended) that it leaves the viewers feeling more aggravated at the movie than outraged at the water industry.
In all fairness, part of the problem has nothing to do with Tapped itself but rather the film market’s excess of documentaries detailing the corruption and doomsday ramifications of what feels like every product and practice. It may all be important but at some point one just wants to throw up one’s hands and scream, “I give up. Clothing, corn, milk, honey and now water. It’s just too much!”
Of course, it’s not fair to dismiss this film just because it brings our attention to an issue we would rather ignore- that’s sort of its purpose. Tapped isn’t a bad idea for a documentary but its execution suggests that the filmmakers didn’t realize how many other documentaries there are that shed light on corrupt industries. The film presumes that its shock value suffices and therefore makes little attempt to connect with its audience beyond presenting the information.
Tapped could have accomplished this simply by personalizing the story. As it is, it features some great interviews but there are so many of them that the viewer’s emotional investment is spread thin. Just because a film tackles a huge problem doesn’t mean that it has to grant equal attention to everyone affected- in fact, the best documentaries don’t. Taxi to the Dark Side addresses the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees but it focuses on one imprisoned taxi driver; Blackfish exposes the cruel practices of SeaWorld by centering on a single orca; Hoop Dreams follows just two aspiring basketball pros and A Jihad for Love explores the treatment of homosexuals in the Islamic world by featuring only a handful of gay Muslims from across the globe. Though these documentaries address the grand scope of the issues impacting their few subjects, it’s the specificity that gives the films their emotional core. “Tapped” just covers too much material to have one.
Is it informative? Yes. Disturbing? Sure. Compelling? Memorable? Powerful? … Not really. Then again, we now know that tap water is better than bottled. That’s worth something.
Petra Halbur
Image source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1344784/