The Climate Coalition, a group of over 100 U.K. charities and climate-related organizations, has released a “Love Song” to the climate. Via Adweek:
Created by RSA Films, it opens with a sense of foreboding: “I’ve heard talk of a quiet violence waiting at the water’s edge,” intones Charles Dance at its start, channeling his calmest, darkest Tywin Lannister voice from Game of Thrones.
But while the ad is over three minutes long, it doesn’t linger in the darkness—a welcome relief for those who crave something uplifting.
Fellow actors Miranda Richardson, Jason Isaacs and David Gyasi join Dance in reciting a melodic script, written by British poet Anthony Anaxagorou. As they speak, the ambient sound is crisp and resonant—the low rumbling of a cello mixed with the tinkle of ice, the mournful whistle of the wind, leaves cracking as rain falls.
Combined with these are beautiful images of the planet—a tree lit brilliantly by lightning, rippling water, the sky moving fast from light to dark, the moon rising with startling speed. You can almost smell the sharp note of ozone before a storm, and the kind of decay that paves the way for the sugary odor of fresh green life.
All this is met toward the end with a choir interpreting Elbow’s “Magnificent (She Says).” “It’s all gonna be magnificent,” they sing once the narration speeds up, then momentarily abandons us, leaving only imagery so beautiful that when Gyasi gazes upward, a trail of tears lining one cheek, we know how he feels.