The Land Beyond the Sunset

This thoughtful, memorable drama is the kind of movie that sticks with you after it is over, and it provides some thoughtful, sensitive commentary on problems that are, unfortunately, still all too present in our society. It is also one of the best Edison Company films of the 1910s, and while they did make a fair number of entertaining movies during this time, "The Land Beyond the Sunset" stands out in addressing a sensitive subject without resorting to easy answers.

The story focuses on Joe, a young newsboy living in a squalid situation, who one day has the opportunity for a pleasant outing in the country, courtesy of the Fresh Air Fund. The story is simple, but it portrays the characters quite realistically. For a time, you expect to see an upbeat if pat resolution of Joe's struggles, but the finale is much better than that. Another reviewer here has very aptly described its "haunting ambiguity", because indeed it rejects all easy answers, leaving the viewer challenged to think for himself or herself.

There are also a couple of fine moments on the technical side. The one that stands out most of all is the crucial scene when the children on the outing are listening to the fairy tale told them by their well-meaning hosts. The composition is excellent, catching the detail in the foreground with a partial glimpse of the expanse of water in the background, fitting in nicely with the content of the story and the situation. Then there is added a double exposure shot that communicates exactly what Joe is thinking, nicely setting up the finale.

It all works very well, and is well worth taking the time to watch if you have any interest in silent dramas.

A young boy (Martin Fuller), oppressed by his mother, goes on an outing in the country with a social welfare group where he dares to dream of a land where the cares of his ordinary life fade.

This film looks great more than 100 years later. The picture is very crisp, and the use of double exposure is not only very well done ,but still works excellently as a fade in or out after all this time. Whoever preserved this film did much better than almost everyone else.

I loved how this incorporated some fantasy elements. Whether or not it was the first, it is great to see the costumes and the use of witches and fairies. A boy who must escape the world could ask for no better companions.

A young impoverished boy wins the opportunity to spend a pleasant day out in the countryside. The under privileged children are told a fairy tale and this transforms the young lad. He imagines a land beyond the sunset. The film ends on a poetic enigmatic note.

The film is an unusual combination of social drama and otherworldly fantasy. It has to be said that these two seemingly opposing genres are combined here quite beautifully. There is definitely a social conscience here. The squalor of the city slums is compared to the country and it's clear that the film implies the latter is much better and purer. The fairy tale sequence itself is very nice, helped a great deal by the lilting Irish music accompanied by it in the version I saw and fitted with the images perfectly. The ending itself is somewhat ambiguous and open to different interpretations but this is one of the very reasons it is so effective and why this old film still feels so fresh.

I was fortunate to see this rarity on the big screen at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, back in early 1987, on a double bill supporting the 1928 Russian Revolution potboiler 'The Red Dance', directed by Raoul Walsh (if my memory is correct, the program was presented by historian William K. Everson, during his regular annual visit to the theater).

'The Land Beyond the Sunset' is an early (1912) one-reeler about an underprivileged orphan who finds peace of mind at a charity picnic. The film is short and sweet, with an eloquent ending completely out of character for the usually prosaic Edison studios.

This little film has a powerful, haunting final scene that gives me a chill, not only when I watch it, but when I think about it. An unusual film for 1912, particularly the ambiguity, the lack of a comforting ending. Reminiscent of the final scene in Hitchcock's The Birds — the uneasy ambiguity, of being on edge, of having the viewer fill in the finale. I am reluctant to write more, as I follow the view of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, who said he refrained from producing more written works, because it was an "unnecessary stain on the silence." This is a short film that should be paid respect with an equally short review.