“Plastics” the short film by Monica Catto “The problem isn’t plastics, it’s us”. Love for the environment and the dream of a circular economy. A project designed to say “The problem isn’t plastics, it’s us” an important theme, an innovative style. The idea, born from the director Monica Catto with the interpretation by Patrizia Falconetti, interrupts the classic schemes of demonization campaigns and marks a decisive change. Undisputed protagonist: plastics. “The history of plastics is changing radically. For fifty years it has had a relatively good life. It was hidden by the economy, everyone knew, but nobody wanted to look”. The idea of this short film came from some reflections on the subject of plastic.
Is plastic a real problem? No, we are the real problem. The problem isn’t in the price of a campaign to demonize plastics and its use because there is no doubt that this material has had a strong impact on the development of our society. The clear result, supported by scientific studies, is that the problem of plastic isn’t the plastic itself, but how it’s managed, so we are the problem. The short film aims to raise consumer awareness and a culture process on how to manage waste, especially plastic ones.
The video starts with an overview of the Tuscan countryside. The beauty of nature is violated by an incorrect behavior in the disposal of plastic bottles which are thrown away in the environment, in secret, during the evening. These behaviors are amplified in the sequence of the bottles that fall from the stairs. The uncontrolled meeting of this type of disposal means that there is a constant increase in plastic material.
The protagonist is trapped by the bottles, and lulled into a sort of incubator that moves more and more wildly. A beating heart, the transformation took place. A new monstrous entity is born. This is the result of man’s inability to give plastics a new life. The monster is the man, plastic is just the casing. The man and the plastics, trapped in this new body, the attempts to get out of it have increased, but the new entity is getting stronger and the efforts are vain.
The short closes with a fiery red sunset, a reconquest of beauty. The protagonist goes back away, and leaves space for a distant mirage that cannot remain an utopia. The beauty of a nature that must be preserved for our health, for the health of the planet and its future.
