Another fascinating work by a Portland-based filmmaker is coming to screens soon, with the arrival of Irene Taylor’s “Trees and Other Entanglements.” The documentary, which premieres on HBO on Dec. 12, once more displays Taylor’s talent for combining the personal with the universal.
On one level, “Trees and Other Entanglements” takes viewers inside the passions of people who love trees. Taylor visits with, for example, an Oregon-based Bonsai master; a photographer whose travels include exploring the Mojave Desert in search of a venerable Joshua tree; a Canadian tree planter and reforestation advocate; and an author who recalls living on a wealthy family’s estate in Westchester, New York, and the work her parents did to manage its grounds.
The issue of who owns forested land that may seem at first glance like open, rural territory, also comes up in an interview with lumber company mogul George Weyerhaeuser Sr., filmed before his death in 2022, at the age of 95. Archival films and photographs illustrate the notorious incident when Weyerhaeuser was kidnapped off a Tacoma street in 1935, and hidden in the woods. He was released after his parents paid a ransom of $200,000.
Taylor touches on the topic of forest management, and how environmentally minded people have objected to the practice of clear-cutting. But for the most part, her focus is more intimate, as when she is shown hacking away at invasive ivy that threatens to strangle the life out of evergreens on her Portland property.
The director makes an emotional connection between the trees and the ivy that’s threatening them with her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and the metaphor expands to consider how trees -- and humans -- adapt to the passage of time.
Though Taylor’s other films include the Oscar-nominated “The Final Inch,” about the quest to eradicate polio, and documentaries about criminal cases, the environment, and other topics, she has drawn from her own experiences before. The Peabody Award-winning “Hear and Now,” chronicled her deaf parents’ decision to have cochlear implant surgery, and the Emmy-nominated “Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements,” told the story of Taylor’s deaf son learning to play the “Moonlight Sonata,” which Beethoven composed as he was losing his hearing.
“Trees and Other Entanglements,” which runs 110 minutes, debuts on HBO at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, and will be available to stream on Max. Portlanders will also have a chance to see the film on Thursday, Dec. 14 at the Portland Art Museum’s PAM/Cut Tomorrow Theater. Doors are at 6 p.m. and the film shows at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15, and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with Irene Taylor and other members of the cast and crew.
— Kristi Turnquist
503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist
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