Today's film is Deseret, a narrative of the history of Utah. There are no actors, no lines, no scenes. Just one man, Fred Gardner, reading summaries of various news reports about the area ranging from 1851-present day. It starts off in black and white as we learn about the Mormon settlers and their fights with Native Americans, other settlers, and the government itself. Later, Utah becomes a site for nuclear weapons testing.
While Gardner reads these accounts, we are shown various landscapes, everything from scrub-filled deserts to beautiful rock formations. Then, we see mining and other industries emerge. This documentary reminds me of Koyaanisqatsi, which also showed only landscapes and buildings, except that one didn't have any narration. I learned a lot about Utah today, but I didn't find this documentary interesting or visually stimulating at all. I will give it a 4/10.
I liked this somewhat more than you because I did learn a lot more about Utah than I had known before. I didn't care for Koyaanisqatsi at all, on the other hand.
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