Il lago dei sogni

The Dust Factory is a very cute fantasy film that obviously comes from the heart. Young Ryan has been scarred by the death of his father, and no longer speaks. An accident transports him to a fantastic world called The Dust Factory, where Ryan regains his voice. He is soon reunited with his Grandpa, whose Alzheimer's keeps him from communicating in the real world. Ryan also meets the precocious Mel, an adorable tomboy who idolizes Peter Pan. The relationship between Mel and Ryan is the core of the film, with Grandpa providing sage advice. This film has very "indie" production values, but it is very ambitious for a small budget film, and the special effects come off well. The writer/director obviously wanted to tell this story, and hard work pays off in a very enjoyable independent fantasy film.

This was slow, overlong but carefully crafted film. Saw on the credits where it was financed by Oregon Lottery money. What's with that? Can I have some? Anyway the acting was a high point as each of the principal characters is capable of delivering tears, quivering chins, furrowed brows, etc and have a good range of emotions. They also have physical skills beyond the usual pretty face as demonstrated by the dance numbers, the skating and hockey sequences, the trapeeze and other physical scenes apparently not done by stunt doubles. It did have a foreign touch to it; Oregon isn't that far from Canada and the scenery and flavor matched several obscure Canadian films. 'Reflecting Skin' comes to mind, and a British film 'Paperhouse' matches it in having much of the film take place in a sort of dreamland. The plot was almost a match too.

I'm sixteen and I just watched this movie. I didn't really understand the plot. It felt too slow and just had no point. In some ways, it was boring because everything was too perfect. I didn't really understand the whole thing with the circus and the black hole. The only thing I understood was that the grandpa lost his Alzheimer's when he was in the place between heaven and earth and he became friends with the girl. This movie made absolutely no sense. Someone reviewed that this movie was original, but I've seen ten million other movies like this. They go to a new world which is perfect, but they have to go back. There's also the "loss of a loved one" element in this movie. I'm hoping that one of these days the people writing scripts will create an understandable and original movie.

Fantasies created by a child to cope with traumas and heartaches too young to understand (not that I know any better), but the film misuses the fantasy for a totally artificial sweetness. Nothing has an emotional grounding, nothing feels remotely genuine.

Hayden Panettiere is a charming ray of energy even if her quirkiness is constructed-in-a-lab-fake. Other than her however, the movie is unrelentingly desperate to be sweet, but is instead emotionally hollow and visually lifeless.

My son and I really enjoyed this film. We went to this movie quite by accident - had never heard of it - but was rated PG! How rare is that in this day and age?

The subject matter is deeper then most kids movies - the understanding of pain, losing people we love, and taking that pain to live life and love life to its fullest, not closing up to die. While this may sound like a downer it is not, the characters learn to embrace and recapture their lives in a very upbeat way.

I think one user said sappy - true. But, personally, isn't it nice to watch a film that is uplifting and makes one think about life, and pain, and living - whether you are 9, like my son, or an adult?

Also, this movie has a certain forgein film quality to it. In my opinion.