Manufactured Landscapes (2006, Canadian)

Aesthetically, Manufactured Landscapes and the photography of Edward Burtynsky are gorgeous, but subject-wise, they're often horrifying. Landscapes follows Burtynsky as he works on images for his 2004 book, Burtynsky - China. Thus, the primary subject of the film is also China, and how the nation's rapid expansion into the manufacturing industry has impacted not only the indigenous landscape, but that of the world.

Burtynsky says that he is more interested in showing these human-made landscapes than he is in moralizing or politicizing them, and when the film likewise concentrates on the images, it's at its best. But when it relies too heavily on Burtynsky's narrative or on the human cost of Chinese expansion and Western consumerism (such as in a late segment on land ownership in Shanghai), it feels as if the filmmakers are beating the message home. Burtynsky's images can speak for themselves, and Landscapes will probably make you think long and hard about the next iron you buy, or what happens to your laptop after you discard it.