If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, a documentary that focuses on one man’s experience with extreme environmental activism and the subsequent legal proceedings that occurred as a result of his acts of “eco-terrorism,” is a brilliant film that raises multiple thought-provoking questions about the way we interact with the environment, the extent to which we are willing to stand by our values, and the way the same action can be viewed in so many ways by different people who admit that events are much more complex than they sometimes initially seem.

Besides being adeptly crafted to tell an intriguing history, this film really goes beyond the realm of story-telling in successfully making the audience think about how we, as a society, define terrorism, and how the current legal system seems to punish those who arguably least deserve to be punished, while letting others off free in exchange for information. It makes people think about how there isn’t one right approach to a problem, and that even individuals that seem to be clearly on one side of an issue have the capacity to sympathize to a surprising extent with others who hold conflicting beliefs. One striking example of this was a brief interview with a lumberjack in the Northwest, who openly acknowledged that he has no issue with cutting down trees. Though this seems crass, he goes on to explain that ninety-five percent of Old Growth forests have been cut down in the United States, and that when activists try to protect the remaining five percent, he doesn’t see this as being extreme. Extreme is cutting down all the trees. This really puts into perspective the extent and severity of the damage that we’ve inflicted on the natural environment. It forces us to think about our priorities and suddenly turns “radical environmentalists” into benign humanitarians. Equally as shocking were the scenes that showed peaceful protests wherein hundreds gathered to voice their political opinions, only to be met with police brutality. One scene showed a woman being held down by a police officer as he forced pepper spray into her eyes while she begged him to stop hurting her and told him that all she wanted was to protect the trees. These scenes were extremely powerful as they illustrated an aspect of the story that elucidated the way in which the lines between “good and evil” are really a matter of perspective and can be seen as blurry at best.

Walking into the theater, I was hopeful that I would enjoy this movie and perhaps learn a few new things. I didn’t expect to be blown away by all the intricate and fascinating questions raised by this film. Being able to ask the filmmaker, Marshall Curry, himself about the film afterwards was an added perk that added depth to my understanding of some aspects of the movie. If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend this screening, I would absolutely recommend that you find this movie to watch on your own-it’s definitely worth the time!