Chemical Conquest
1956 · 25m · Canada
Directed by Larry Gosnell
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative
Laboratory researchers test chemicals against crop insects, diseases and weeds while questioning soil safety.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A 1956 chemical industry documentary that plays it completely straight—no irony, no subversion, just earnest midcentury faith in science solving everything. It's almost *too* conventional to be interesting, which is precisely why it isn't.
A formally rigorous specimen of institutional documentary practice, where the measured pacing and careful visual argument about agrochemical safety reveal the deep craft of post-war scientific cinema—exactly the kind of film that rewards slow, deliberate viewing and situates itself within a specific moment of documentary authority.
The film's power hinges on a simple editorial choice: letting the researchers' uncertainty about soil safety linger in the frame longer than the chemical solutions themselves, a subtle tonal pivot that transforms what could've been pure industry propaganda into genuine contemplation.