The Loneliest Planet

The movie has a documentary look--high on visual and aural detail, where the graphic realism turns the viewer into a bit of a voyeur. The acting is brilliant, natural.

I saw the film in Mexico in an excellent theater. The pivotal and somewhat tragic scene at the midpoint (described in critic reviews) got a laugh from the largely Hispanic audience.

From the midpoint on, the lack of dialog is unsettling, and there's not much resolution to the film at the end. Yet another celebration of dysfunctional relationships, but the film is so well crafted, we can overlook its flaws.

A good travel flick, overall.

Is there a reason to like this movie? I can't find one and am surprised by those who do. What is pictured is two young characters who like to walk through rugged terrain, play word games, have sex in the dark, and stay trim. Do I have a reason to like either character? No. What I heard was inane dialog, heavy music as if something was going to happen and doesn't, very little sound of any sort to engage my ears. Was I amused by the word games, liked the music, or understood the inane dialog and stories the players tell? No. I was shown photography of some rugged terrain in the Georgia mountains, a place that few have seen. Was I supposed to be impressed by the beauty and awe of this natural setting? The answer is that it wasn't something I'd seen better done in other movies. The movie seems to suggest that relationships can change radically because of an insignificant happening. But never tell us if they change. I'm still waiting to think of a reason for liking this picture.

The Loneliest Planet - The sophomore effort from writer/director Julia Loktev, this film follows a young American couple as they take a trek through the man's ancestral homeland in Georgia (the nation, not the state)'s Caucus mountains. I am unfamiliar with the director's previous effort (2006's Day Night Day Night) but regret to say that The Loneliest Planet did not really inspire me to seek her earlier work out. The problem lies primarily with the screenplay, especially the first hour, which plays more like high quality excerpts from someone's vacation video than like a narrative picture. NOTHING happens. Okay, that's an exaggeration, there are a FEW bits of characterization and foreshadowing that lend to the storyline. However, with a run time of an hour and fifty odd minutes, the movie's first seventy-five could easily have been cut to thirty without detracting from the (minimal) story that the script sets out to tell. Without the lovely cinematography contributed by Inti Briones, the first half of the film would be practically unwatchable.

Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries, Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Hani Furstenberg (Yossi and Jagger) do respectable jobs as the vacationing couple, but are not really given enough dialog or activity to really show us what they are capable of. First time actor Bidzina Gujabidze actually outshines them both as their tour guide, his "local color" helping to bridge some of the more debilitatingly slow passages of the film, but even he is fighting an uphill battle. I can appreciate the point of Loktev's story, but it just didn't constitute a two hour movie. It might have made a nice short film...2 1/2 of 5 stars.

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We all love to see places that seem alien and completely bereft of modernity. The lush mountains, the historic villages that seemingly have no electricity or running water and just the rustic appeal of the supposed third world. Every now and then we have that little itch to explore these places, and that is where the film The Loneliest Planet excels in. Other than that, it doesn't excel at much else.

I guess the problem comes from the trailer, which made this sound like a major issue was going to form between the protagonists Alex and Nica. They seem very much in love and quite comfortable, but it is revealed late in the movie they may have some trust issues. While this is typical of these type of movies where stresses create relationship cracks, it wasn't anything too earth rattling. Even the major moment where the marital bliss is challenged doesn't illustrate this. Another reviewer on this page suggested this would have been a better short film. I would have to agree.

I will say the scenery of the Caucasus Mountains is extraordinary, making me wish I had the means to go out there and experience it for myself. Other than that, a well shot and composed film with little else to really offer.

A unique, brilliantly structured art-house film that will definitely go down as one of my favorites from the past few years. It's a film that has, really, only a single plot point, and it's one that happens in a blink of an eye. The film centers on two tourists in Georgia (the country, not the state). Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg play an engaged couple, and the first half of the film establishes quite clearly their dynamics, and the fact that they are very much in love. Halfway through the film, the pivotal incident occurs and it's like a prism that breaks up the way the two look at each other, as well as themselves. Sure, that first hour is pretty slow moving (though the scenery in the film is so gorgeous that I was never less than engaged), but, after the incident, you look backward at every small thing that occurred. That first, sleepy hour I was basically just enjoying the scenery, but during the second hour my mind was running a mile a minute, even though, basically, nothing much was happening. It's a weird and uncompromising picture that will surely drive some crazy, but I was absolutely blown away by it.