Salmonberries - a piedi nudi nella neve

After clearing away all the acting and plot lines and cinematography and scripts, what I want to see in a movie is something that makes me sit up an take notice. Something that opens my eyes and my mind to some new previously-unperceived reality. Salmonberries does this in a powerful way. Salmonberries transports you to a place where you have never been, to a culture you have never known, and opens the hearts and souls of people you have never known, and lays it bare. See this film.

I'll watch anything with k.d. lang in it, but this movie is remarkable for much more than its star. Every part of the movie is exquisite -- the cinematography is incredible, the acting is intense, the music is powerful, and so on. Each character is beautifully developed as far as necessary for the story. I can't even find further words for this movie. I have seen a lot of movies, and to date there are only two I really believe in. This is one of them.

I like picking up random movies I've never heard of, to see what I think. This was one of them. I went in with no expectations and was still disappointed. If anything, I can usually get amusement and a laugh out of a strange movie, but this fell flat on all marks. The acting was bad because it was so flat. ...it was really bad. The story just kind of existed, and wasn't interesting in any way. Things progressed very slowly, which is fine in itself, but there was basically no feeling of anticipation. Now, I like off-beat stuff, but this, I just couldn't get into. I think it tries to be artsy at times, or something, I'm not really sure what to think about some of the scenes. It was just plain boring.

I'm giving it a 2/10 simply because I was able to finish the movie, and because I've seen worse. But make no mistake... This movie is quite bad. And not even in a funny way. I was having a hard time even picking a rating for this movie. It's kind of like watching an instructional video for your new Singer sewing machine- it's not really something that you rate. It just kind of... Exists.

A sort of mix of 'Bagdad Café' and 'Three Women' set in Alaska. k.d. lang plays an androgynous miner who falls in love with a straight, private, local German librarian. They both have muddy, tragic pasts that slowly emerge.

There are some deeply moving moments, and some wonderful slightly magical realist touches. The cinematography is very good. But while lang does a decent job, I can't help thinking a stronger, more experienced actress could have brought out even more in this amazing role.

That said, I did enjoy this much more on a second viewing. While it bothered me that it felt at times like Adlon was trying to re-create the magic of 'Bagdad Café' (odd, surreal setting, quirky out of place characters, cinematography that uses color in exaggerated ways for effect, etc.) overall I found myself more able to just let go and accept this tale on its own merits. And doing that, it made me smile.

This movie takes place in a remote Alaskan village, in a landscape that is bleak and stunning at the same time. Two lonely souls-both outsiders, in a sense-meet here and slowly fall in love. One is a native of East Germany who works as the village librarian. The other is a young transgender man, abandoned at birth, obsessed with finding his biological parents. There is also an excellent supporting cast portraying the people who live in this small town, fighting the rough environment and finding happiness and fun where they can. The plot is filled with twists, sadness, and even comedy-and the Alaskan scenery is breathtaking.