Burn Your Maps

This delightful film is a complete fantasy, especially once it leaves its urban setting for an entirely imaginary world of sun-drenched steppes and gambolling goats, full of benevolent, wise, leisured folks who queue up as soon as they are introduced to become our heroes' new best friends and mentors. It's all far too pleasant to be believable, but you would need a heart of the purest mud not to be taken in anyway. For all its wishful thinking, the story achieves the prerequisite for fantasy: it makes you want to know where this place is so that you can move there. The script is also often funny, and the actors are uniformly excellent.

The film has been criticised for not featuring enough Mongolian characters doing authentic Mongolian things, but I think that is missing the point of the story. This is not about actual Mongolia and its people, but about the vast open spaces, exciting and unknown, that open up in front of a nine-year old, just as his parents are seeing their own vistas suddenly shuttered by a personal disaster. This new world is only Asian and exotic in ways that are accessible to the child: grand scenery, semi-free farm animals, people who live in tents, unfamiliar language. But the emotional connections the boy and his mother make while there are, naturally, with people that they could have met in America. On the contrary, it is the other characters, coming over with no expectations, who find answers there to the questions that they did not know how to ask.

I enjoyed this film, from start to finish. It was a wonderful story of lost souls, and many of us can relate to this concept of just not fitting in. The boy who starred in this film did a great job of portraying someone, who is lost in a fantasy world, due to real life tragedy, being a bit much to handle. Vera Farmiga did a lovely job as his supportive and understanding mother, though she was attempting to deal with the same family tragedy, in her own way. Martin Csokas was exceptional, as usual. A major talent. The wonderful Virginia Madsen had a great, though brief part. All the talent was outstanding.

The direction, soundtrack, performances, script, and editing were excellent. Why can't Hollywood make more films like this one. No car chases. No inane leaps of faith. Just a good, solid, heartfelt story.

Within 5 minutes of the beginning of this film, my wife leaned over and whispered, "I love this film." I had just been thinking the same thing. "Burn Your Maps" is incredibly well written, acted, and directed. You don't realize in the first 5 minutes that the director is going to take you on a journey that will skillfully stir so many emotions, but that is exactly what Jordan Roberts does. The characters, brilliantly portrayed by Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, and others, are all lost in their own way and spend the film journeying to find themselves and to be found by others. Movies that touch on so many emotions can often seem manipulative of the viewer. Not this one. That's where "Burn Your Maps" really shines. It is incredibly crafted to take you on the journey. I'm usually really time sensitive on movies, very aware if parts seem to drag or are uneven. Honestly, I have no idea how long this movie lasted. From those first five minutes through the closing credits, I was immersed in the story that kept me at a pleasing state of "feeling". Go see this movie. You'll be glad you did.

Utterly beautiful, speechlessly brilliant.

I understand there aren't very many women directors, and there's a movement to encourage, so I reserve my final point in support of that worthy effort.

This is the kind of movie the world needs. One that is simple and yet crazy at the same time. Like who even sits down and thinks. "Hmmm, how about a movie/book about a young white American boy who thinks he is Mongolian"? This is originality at it's finest! This may be one of the most underrated films in the past decade and I so wish for it to be seen by more people. This movie will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you cringe, and make you smile; and feel all of these different emotions at the same time! I can not by any means, do this film enough justice in describing it. All I can do is encourage everyone that I can to watch this film. It will make your day, trust me!