Land

There are so many new movies out right now and I want to see them all!  I began last night with Land, which I have been anticipating for what seems like forever, and I really liked it.  Edee (Robin Wright) is mourning the unexpected death of her husband and son and has lost the will to live.  She buys a cabin and a piece of land in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains and retreats from the outside world.  She is clearly unprepared for the harsh conditions, possibly by design, and is near death when she is found by Miguel (Demian Bichir) and Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge), a hunter and nurse, respectively, who live in the nearest town.  They nurse her back to health and then Miguel offers to teach her how to trap and hunt along with other survival skills.  As he teaches Edee how to live in the wild, he also teaches her how to live with her grief.  The narrative is slow and contemplative but my attention never wavered.  Retreating into nature in order to heal is a familiar theme, and this movie doesn't really have anything new to say about it, but it is one that I particularly enjoy because I also find a great deal of solace in nature.  I found Edee's story to be particularly compelling because, while she yearns for solitude after the world becomes too much to bear, it is ultimately a human connection that helps her to heal.  I also really loved Miguel's journey to redemption because he needs Edee to help him deal with his own trauma as much as she needs him.  Both Wright and Bichir give understated but powerful performances and often convey more emotion in the silences that permeate this movie rather than through dialogue.  The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and I loved all of the shots of the stunning scenery, in all four seasons, that are interspersed throughout.  This has a few flaws (in my opinion Into the Wild and Wild tell the same story much better) but I enjoyed it and would recommend it.