Mr. Movie: Fires engulfing the West bring ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ back to life

In recent weeks we’ve been breathing wildfire smoke. It’s been so thick at times when you could replace the word breathing with the word eating and be quite accurate.

To put it bluntly, Washington, Oregon and California are on fire. Some say it is the worst wildfire season — ever.

I read a report last week that said there were — at the time — more than 900 wildfires burning in the three states. Very few of them were under control or even close to being controlled.

Though thousands of people have been forced to evacuate — often at a moment’s notice — most of us have not been impacted. We read about it here in this newspaper or we watch reports on TV or hear them on the radio.

In those reports, the terror experienced by those evacuating never quite comes across. We don’t see the agony on the faces of people leaving a lifetime of memories to the mercy of an uncaring fire.

This is why I’m revisiting Academy Award winner Ron Howard’s documentary “Rebuilding Paradise.”

In the opening sequences of his movie you will see and understand just how dangerous these fires are to people living in tinder-dry forest and wooded areas.

The video you see of what is now called The Camp Fire is shot on smartphones. These aren’t actors delivering lines. The frightened faces, voices and the petrified children you see are real people. And on that November morning almost two years ago, they’re scared to death.

Even if you don’t watch the rest of the movie, the opening sequences need to be seen to fully understand the impact on those facing this kind of disaster.

If you didn’t know it was a documentary, you’d think Howard just rewrote the special effects book. They’re not special effects. You see the city of Paradise being burned to the ground. It bears repeating. Burned to the ground. When the fire was finished, 85 people were dead, over 50,000 people were homeless and more than 18,000 homes and businesses were gone.

Forever.

Maybe not quite forever because there is light at the end of the fire’s tunnel. It leads us to Howard. National Geographic Documentary Films got him interested in the project. What follows the horrifying opening sequences isn’t close to as interesting as the fire itself.

It’s odd to express the thought in that manner. Howard and his producers follow the lives of a policeman, the city’s school superintendent, a former mayor, a young couple and some high school kids.

The flaw in the movie is that Howard never quite connects you to them. They talk a lot and you see what they’re doing to help rebuild Paradise but the film lacks that important emotional connection that makes you want to personally push these people and their community toward success and a brighter future.

Howard just never gets there.

The fire scenes? That’s a different story and — again — it is the story I think we all need to see. The reason being that our state and our neighboring states are now on fire. There are mini-Paradises all around us. Many have lost their homes like those people in Paradise. A lot of others escaped that calamity but did endure the uncertainty of having to leave everything they have behind and knowing they might not ever see it again.

Another criticism I originally had about “Rebuilding Paradise” is the lack of finger pointing. How does such a thing happen? Global warming is tossed around quite a bit but very few fingers are aimed at Pacific Gas and Electric and how its defective tower caused the blaze.

There are defective power towers in all parts of this state and others.

Government leaders and environmentalist are not chastised for their part in this fire. Clearly the management of the forest — or lack of — adds to the problem and helps create crises like what befell Paradise.

And that — again — brings me back to the opening sequences of “Rebuilding Paradise.” Seeing what happens to the victims of the Camp Fire will help us more clearly understand what is currently happening to some of our families, some of our friends and — in some cases — ourselves.

It is this that makes Howard’s “Rebuilding Paradise” a must-see.

▪ Rated PG-13 for intense, violent scenes, mature themes, some language. It is streaming on a number of view on demand sources and can be purchased.

▪ Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mr. Movie: Fires engulfing the West bring ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ back to life."