by The proliferation of billionaires – with trillionaires soon to come – has raised many questions in world politics. But there is one question as far as wealth itself goes: What can one really do do with so much money? A new answer comes in “The Bones,” which proves that the wealthy will always break new ground in the realm of luxury spending. Even the man or woman who “has it all,” may still need a reconstructed Triceratops skeleton from about 67,000,000 BC. Think of how it will look in the Great Room! That will show people who come with their trophies from live species only.
Yes, there is an actual market for such things, as Jeremy Xido’s documentary suggests – although it doesn’t take us into the homes of those collectors, who probably prefer not to advertise their acquisitions. Dinosaur artifacts were usually excavated for scientific study, and then preserved for natural history museums. But now paleontologists must contend with a deep-pocketed commercial arena where the potential for huge profits can tend to loosen any moral scruples. A first at CPH:DOX, this bright introduction to a complex topic is spreading across the globe from the excavation field to academia to the auction house. If it’s an entertaining sampler of relatable issues and colorful personalities than a sober revelation, it should have broad appeal to programmers looking for non-fiction material, both educational and humorous.
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As one observer here says, the “fossil trade” has been around for at least 300 years. But it’s no surprise to learn that the first “Jurassic Park” movie has taken a big leap in attributing dinosaurs — and reviving the tie-in commercial — 31 years after the first “Jurassic Park” movie was released. since then. Since then, commercial diggers have grown more numerous and aggressive, much to the dismay of scientists who now often find potentially valuable dig sites “destroyed” by careless amateurs. One local Moroccan interviewed says he could make $40 mining fossils in the Sahara in a good week. At the other end, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimen (known as “Sue”) up to that point was sold at Sotheby’s for $8.3 million in 1997. Twenty-three years later, an item of model (“Stan”) almost four times as much.
Some of these giganti go in museums. But others disappear into the realm of private collectors whose identities often remain hidden. Either way, those endpoints usually come out after a long and arduous process of “The Bones” only illuminating a little, because there are so many variables. Laws in the countries of origin may have little force in the country where they are found and/or sold. We find that although only in the Canadian province of Alberta can only the government “own” a fossil, in many other places the rules are vague or not enforced enough to create a “free for all”. (One expert uses that term here to describe US policies, or lack thereof.)
Such discrepancies encourage smuggling, accidental or intentional misidentification of artifacts, and ever-increasing prices. They also foster countless middlemen such as Francois Escuillie, a French entrepreneur who likes to think he has carved out a “niche between science and commerce” – though he admits some paleontologists call it “a thug.” on him. Seen at his large fossil warehouse or attending the huge annual treasure, fossil and mineral conference in Tucson, he is seen here as a kind of lonely, lovable uncle who is not good; Ramachandra Borcar’s original score begins to deteriorate when it is on screen.
But it is such slippery characters that hinder researchers like Nizar Ibrahim, who are in a “race against time to see how many of these treasures we can salvage for science” before they are damaged or sold for private profit. The extent of the legal gray zone across nations means that although Escuillie has been repeatedly investigated by Customs officials, even his passport and passport have been confiscated, he has repeatedly won the court cases against him.
“People think it’s world heritage. They mix morality with the law,” he laments at one point. But many artefacts in western museums are now an uncomfortable image of colonialism, and officials in places like Mongolia and Morocco are trying to reclaim their heritage. The shifting sands of human politics, economics and more continue to affect these bones more than the 80 million years since some humans last walked the earth. Scientists now seem to have a particular urgency for their proper care and study, because after all, dinosaurs and 21st century humanity have something in common: living in an era of mass destruction and climate change. As one observer notes in parting here, “No species lasts forever.” Gulp.
Xido (“Angola Death Metal”) surveys this tangled territory with a sensitivity that is equal parts early Errol Morris fascination with idiosyncratic individuals, and subtle “National Geographic”-style education. The dramatic landscapes visited in North America and Asia are captured for widescreen effect by a team of cameramen. A highlight of the smoothly executed assembly are a few CGI animation sequences (not from the “Jurassic” movies) that show what long-gone creatures between land and sea would look like.
“The Bones” is non-judgmental, suggesting that the pursuit of science is a nobler cause than that of sexism, but it does not necessarily disagree with those who argue that they could coexist. A whole movie could be made about the ways in which the “fossil trade” has often gone illegal – this is not that movie. Xido is willing to amplify the various sides, casually weighing their conflicts but still refraining from assigning any particular blame.
The result might make your average paleontologist settle for witchcraft when it should be indicted. However, the film’s multinational sweep has enough ballast to make you worry more about the state of the prehistoric record than you were going for… and to suddenly diminish thousands of years in the greater scheme of things. .
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