Sick-Amour
Director Joel Tauber
Countries United States
Duration 33 min
Synopsis
A beautiful and forlorn tree, stuck in the middle of a giant parking lot. Ignored and neglected. Hit by cars, and starved for water and oxygen. The tree is attacked by pathogens and pollutants, and it has no chance to reproduce. Joel Tauber, a young and amorous man, is drawn to the tree. Outraged by the indignities that the tree is forced to endure, he devotes himself to improving the tree’s life – watering it with giant water bags, installing tree guards to protect it from cars, building giant earrings to celebrate its beauty, lobbying to remove the asphalt beneath its canopy and to protect it with a ring of boulders, and helping the tree reproduce…. Passionately narrated by Tauber and peppered with interviews by experts in a variety of disciplines (environmental philosophy, tree pathology, biology, ecology, urban forestry…), the film is a highly unusual documentary. It examines the tree in a personal and multi-faceted manner, offering it as a microcosm of the plight of urban trees and of forgotten individuals, in general. At the same time, the film is a love story between Joel and the tree. Amour leads to action. Mulch replaces asphalt. Boulders rebuff cars. And, 200 “tree babies” are born. Joel finds homes for the tree babies, and in the process, he falls in love - again - but this time to someone from his own species. Joel and Alison marry beneath the tree, their families singing and dancing beneath its canopy.
A beautiful and forlorn tree, stuck in the middle of a giant parking lot. Ignored and neglected. Hit by cars, and starved for water and oxygen. The tree is attacked by pathogens and pollutants, and it has no chance to reproduce. Joel Tauber, a young and amorous man, is drawn to the tree. Outraged by the indignities that the tree is forced to endure, he devotes himself to improving the tree’s life – watering it with giant water bags, installing tree guards to protect it from cars, building giant earrings to celebrate its beauty, lobbying to remove the asphalt beneath its canopy and to protect it with a ring of boulders, and helping the tree reproduce…. Passionately narrated by Tauber and peppered with interviews by experts in a variety of disciplines (environmental philosophy, tree pathology, biology, ecology, urban forestry…), the film is a highly unusual documentary. It examines the tree in a personal and multi-faceted manner, offering it as a microcosm of the plight of urban trees and of forgotten individuals, in general. At the same time, the film is a love story between Joel and the tree. Amour leads to action. Mulch replaces asphalt. Boulders rebuff cars. And, 200 “tree babies” are born. Joel finds homes for the tree babies, and in the process, he falls in love - again - but this time to someone from his own species. Joel and Alison marry beneath the tree, their families singing and dancing beneath its canopy.