UNCIVILIZED: Finding Balance By Harmonizing Old Ways With Modern Convenience

When Michael Lees, documentary filmmaker of Uncivilized, began his self-journey of spiritual and physical discovery, he never would guess the answers he searched for would come from tragedy. On September 8th, 2016, he made the decision to leave his life of modern convenience in America and travel back to his Caribbean homeland of Dominica where he grew up to find a more simple way of life. Determined to live completely off of the land for six months, Michael hoped to better understand what life would be like when one is alone and self-sufficient, away from the trappings of the modern world. Bringing along only his video equipment, a few religious texts, and a small amount of survival gear, he trekked deep into the forest to begin documenting his odyssey.

What happened in the following weeks gave Michael a deeper insight into life, faith, and family.

In This Great Future, You Can’t Forget Your Past

When the documentary begins, Michael is heading home with the idea of finding peace through minimalism, escaping the ease of civilization, and getting in touch with his spiritual side. His quest for less reunites him with family and friends who worry for his safety but support the venture as a life experience. Michael speaks of growing up in Dominica only to leave for eight years to go to school in America where he fell into the lazy habits of poor eating, smoking cigarettes, and drinking too much. The idea of excess, as comforting as it may seem at the time, tends to take away from appreciating the beauty of what one gains through hard work and sacrifice.

Early on, it is interesting to watch Michael speak of his disdain for how he has lived for so long while sharing his optimism for a completely self-sufficient six months alone in order to become connected with himself and the Earth. This builds a brilliant foreshadowing of what’s he is in store for in the coming weeks of living off the land. He exudes what so many young adults looking for meaning tend to gravitate towards. Michael’s confidence is infectious when explaining how giving up modern life for the road less traveled will change him, all the while ringing true of the hubris we develop early on for what we think is the answer to our quandaries.

One of the more prominent quotes Michael says before beginning his quest is juxtaposed against footage of the love he left behind in America, a woman named Francis. “Clinging is never kept in bounds. It is sure to go the wrong way. Quit it and things follow their own course.”

In Order To Grow, One Must Branch Out

In anticipation of his trip into the forest, Michael and his friend Kaz, a native of Barbados, meet a man who has created the life which Michael is setting out to achieve. Pump left society forty years ago, living completely off the grid in the rainforest of Dominica in hopes of living how he imagines Jesus might have in our modern world. He speaks of how the forty years feels like one day after a while. Not having had much contact with the outside world, Pump asks Kaz what life has evolved to in his homeland. The following conversation confirms Michael’s feelings when he hears of the obesity rate going up from people choosing, for example, KFC over the healthy food found all around them. Pump goes on to say that money is hard to come by, but we go to the store and spend it on poison for our bodies and poison for the Earth when you consider all of the plastic our food comes in. The meeting only further’s Michael’s desire to find a better way.

Soon the day approaches when Michael will set out into the forest. Spending a long car ride with his parents, they drop him off at the edge of the woods, but not before making sure he is ready for what lies ahead. He answers, “If I get a lil’ wet, no big deal.” Supportive of their son, he and a bag of merger supplies head out to begin his six-month experience. In his first two weeks, although challenging, Michael seems happy. His days consist of meditation, gathering food, building a shelter, and keeping a fire going. A moment that stuck out as telling of what he went through came about in a well-edited montage of his meditation practice intercut with Michael listing all of the things he had begun to miss while being in the wild for, at this point, sixteen days. Losing only a touch of his youthful exuberance, Michael carries on.

Then the rains came.

Always Expect The Unexpected

With nearly a week straight of rain, by day twenty-one dry firewood was scarce, leaving Michael to live on sugar cane over fresh crab and fish he had been catching by the river in order to have protein. The hardships begin to show, but he cracks on, determined to stay the course. Time goes on and by day eighty-three Michael is visited by a friend who warns him of a category 3 hurricane making landfall in a day or two. He decides to remain, unaware that the storm would grow to a category 5 menace historically named Hurricane Maria, one of the most devastating natural disasters to hit the island in years.

Hunkered down through up to 170mph winds and stinging rainfall, Michael awakens to find his shelter nearly crushed by a tree and the lush forest he had called home now completely gone. Trunks of palm trees stand like spires, stripped bare of their fronds. The was river flooded to the point of impassable for days. Having little to no options left, he decides to head to the nearest eco-lodge owned by some close friends where he finds the devastation has decimated seventy percent of the residences on the island. Returning home, he is thankful to find his family safe, though without power and running water.

What follows is the true meaning Michael was looking for in life.

The Answer We Seek Might Not Always Be What We Envisioned

With the island in ruins, looting and violence become an issue that soon went to the wayside when communities banded together to forage the land, wash in the rivers, and help one another. With aid being politicized, the people of Dominica, the ones who stayed at least, learned to live as they once had. Where they once would travel to the store, they found, albeit, meager food around the island which was divided up between family and friends. Roofs were repaired daily, only to leak into homes much the same as Michael repaired his forest shelter time and time again. The message, however, always rang true. Be thankful for being alive and the rest will come.

In the next few months, Michael documents the hardships being taken in stride by the industrious citizens of his homeland even as they celebrated Dominica’s Independence Day with fanfare and togetherness at the island stadium to a packed crowd. The devastation, as vast as it was, gave Michael the answers he was looking for. Happiness doesn’t come from being in the solitude of the land or the comfort of modern society, it comes from appreciating what you have when you have it and working with others to build something better all while remembering that life is a balance of all things, positive and negative.

Michael says at one point, “I’m starting to think this journey from the wilderness to civilization was mankind’s destiny. The wild is too temperamental. Civilization offered security and security meant survival.” This sentiment brings understanding to why building a better world is important, while the situation thrust upon places like Dominica proves that we must never forget the basics of life. Water. Shelter. Family.

A Lesson To The Rest Of Us

Uncivilized comes with a great many answers to questions the modern world is too distracted to know that they needed. What begins as a story of self-discovery, evolves into a poignant sentiment about the dangers of being too vigorous in our thirst for a modern world, but also an understanding of why we need to be respectful of the old ways. Michael Lees’ journey is one we should all learn from. The world is fragile, often chaotic, being much like ourselves. With every change, nature finds a way and so do we. Finding balance, finding peace, knowing the importance of hard work while making time to enjoy the fruits of our labor, are lessons lost with comfortability. Nobody comes out of life without any scars, but it is how we heal that makes us who we are.

The documentary as a whole is a brilliant lesson in ecology, humanity, and finding better ways to live comfortably without taking more than you give back. The many pertinent messages found by the end of Uncivilized hit with profound truth and beauty that is sorely needed in a time of such uncertainty for so many. This film is a genuine recommendation for everyone.

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Uncivilized is streaming now at vimeo.com/ondemand/uncivilized

Watch Uncivilized