Land
Directed by: Robin Wright
Written by: Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam
Starring: Robin Wright, Demián Bichir, Sarah Dawn Pledge, Kim Dickens, Warren Christie, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, Brad Leland
Drama - 89 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 9 Feb 2021
Written by: Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam
Starring: Robin Wright, Demián Bichir, Sarah Dawn Pledge, Kim Dickens, Warren Christie, Finlay Wojtak-Hissong, Brad Leland
Drama - 89 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 9 Feb 2021
Montages are useful not only to show the passage of time, but for when the protagonist must learn a skill. Edee (Robin Wright, Wonder Woman) must learn a whole bunch of skills all at the same time. She’s a city girl. Now, she’s alone in the world’s most isolated cabin. Food procurement, maintaining a functioning water source, heating, and protection from wildlife are perhaps the most pressing life skills to work on to ensure a medium chance of survival. Edee must be doing well because Land, Robin Wright’s feature directorial debut, has an awful lot of montages.
Edee didn’t get lost in the wilderness on accident. Following a severely traumatic event in her life, Edee leaves it all behind. She purchases land on a Wyoming mountain, gathers some supplies, and even dumps her cell phone in the trash. If she gets in trouble, she’s on her own. At first, Edee treads water. She cleans out a cabin to live in which has long been vacant, gets a routine going, but is unprepared for what winter on top of a mountain will throw at her. She does’t know how to hunt, trap animals, grow vegetables without the local animal population eating them, and can’t effectively chop wood.
Edee didn’t get lost in the wilderness on accident. Following a severely traumatic event in her life, Edee leaves it all behind. She purchases land on a Wyoming mountain, gathers some supplies, and even dumps her cell phone in the trash. If she gets in trouble, she’s on her own. At first, Edee treads water. She cleans out a cabin to live in which has long been vacant, gets a routine going, but is unprepared for what winter on top of a mountain will throw at her. She does’t know how to hunt, trap animals, grow vegetables without the local animal population eating them, and can’t effectively chop wood.
There are fleeting signs Edee does not care whether she lives or dies. She’s doesn’t come off overtly suicidal, but she fled humankind for a reason - she doesn’t want to be around another living soul. Well, she’s alone now - starving, shivering, and on the brink of death. While many filmmakers before have said nature was a supporting character, it’s alive and in the audience’s face in Land. It is not to be underestimated. Nature stings, stabs, and even in blistering blizzards, strangles. Yet, something happens to Edee, which many people who seek the solace of the wild hope will happen to them; she is transformed.
The irony is it is other humans who save Edee so she may begin her transformation. Miguel (Demián Bichir, The Midnight Sky) and Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge), residents of the nearby Reservation, know something is wrong with the mountain hermit and revive Edee. Land is a film with minimal dialogue, but when Edee asks Miguel why he saved her and why he continues to come by and teach her the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness, he says, “Because you were in my path.” A simple line, but it’s delivered and lands with impact. Miguel also has a murky, tragic past he deals with in his own way, and perhaps, these two wounded souls can hesitantly help each other move on toward the future.
Wright, as both director and lead actress, and cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, are adept at pointing out the duality of nature - it is both nourishing and nemesis. While storms and the elements can impart pain, nature also provides for what we need to weather those storms. Shot on location in the wilderness at the wonderfully named Moose Mountain near Calgary, Alberta, Land feels authentic. The crew could just as easily have shot some exteriors and filmed the cabin interiors on some Culver City backlot, but the filmmakers knew they would miss something. Indeed, Bukowski slept in the cabin at night so he would have the opportunity to film gorgeous sunrises and pristine snow when the opportunities presented themselves. This extra effort pays off in Land’s many pauses to admire the scenery.
Written by Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam, Land is one woman’s search for meaning in the aftermath of a life changing event. Searching for meaning in the Rockies during wintertime is perhaps one way to forget about that search for awhile and focus on keeping from getting frostbite. However, when the world you know is ripped out from under your feet, the isolation is also a reminder for the necessity of human connection, which perhaps feels more resonant today with housebound COVID-trapped audiences. Our now year long sequestration is a palpable reminder for the human connections we lack. Robin Wright’s story of escape and newfound meaning may connect with audiences deeper now than she hoped it would when it was filmed before the world turned in on itself and everyone sought separation from their fellow man.
Written by Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam, Land is one woman’s search for meaning in the aftermath of a life changing event. Searching for meaning in the Rockies during wintertime is perhaps one way to forget about that search for awhile and focus on keeping from getting frostbite. However, when the world you know is ripped out from under your feet, the isolation is also a reminder for the necessity of human connection, which perhaps feels more resonant today with housebound COVID-trapped audiences. Our now year long sequestration is a palpable reminder for the human connections we lack. Robin Wright’s story of escape and newfound meaning may connect with audiences deeper now than she hoped it would when it was filmed before the world turned in on itself and everyone sought separation from their fellow man.
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