Blue Vinyl

It's a testament to the skill and ingenuity of co-directors Judith Helfand and Daneil B. Gold that they managed to make a thoughtful, funny, and engaging documentary about vinyl. Doesn't sound like a particularly important subject, right? Well, think again. The amount of vinyl in our lives is downright scary. In fact, every three seconds another house in North America is sided with vinyl due to its convenience and affordability. Copious amounts of this sythetic plastic are used not only for construction purposes but also in the medical, leisure, automotive, and electronic industries to build everything from toy dolls to kitchen floors.

Helfand's interest in the potentially harmful effects of vinyl began when her parents decided to re-side their house with the notorious material. Upset by the changing face of her childhood home, Judith sets off to investigate the manufacture, use, and disposal of this incredibly toxic material. As she travels from Lake Charles, Louisiana (the vinyl capital of America) to Venice, Italy (the vinyl capital of Europe), she uncovers startling information about the danger vinyl poses to the population and the planet at every stage of its life-cyle.

Each horrific discovery sends Judith back home to share the information with her parents. Her goal is to have them remove the vinyl siding from their home and she has several experts come to her parents' home in Long Island to help her. She even has a natural material enthusiast from California -- whose own house is made out of straw and mud -- fly in to explain the spiritual side of building materials.

It turns out that the burning and manufacturing of vinyl causes cancer in vinyl workers and the people who live near vinly plants. Not surprisingly, this is a fact that the vinyl industry fights tooth-and-nail to conceal, fuelling Hefland's resolve as she charges full-steam-ahead into a truth-uncovering mission of Erin Brockovich proportions.

Docurama's impressive DVD release of the film is loaded with extras. There's a short epilogue, in which Hefland's parents decide to sell their home and move into a retirement community where the houses are sided with, you guessed it, vinyl. There are also two bonus shorts, one of which shows the outcome of an important vinyl industry vs. cancer victims trial. The other deals with Habitat for Humanity and its partenership with the vinyl industry. Vinyl is Habitat's largest coporate sponsor so, when Greenpeace partenered with Habitat to build a completely vinyl-free home, the vinly industry was unhappy, to say the least.

There are several deleted scenes, all with commentary from the directors, as well as a photo gallery. There is also an interview with the animators who contributed to the film and, finally, a feature length commentary by the directors, which sheds addtional light on the film and the positive changes it has inspired.

Blue Vinyl is a funny and poignant call to arms. It asks consumers to unite and end the demand for vinyl products. For more information on the film, the science, and alternatives to vinyl, go to www.myhouseisyourhouse.org. -- Sarah Duda