Earthwork

I saw this film with my 3 sisters at the Kansas International Film Festival in Overland Park last week. We loved it. We had no real idea of what the movie would be and I thought it was to be documentary. The director and one actor (I believe most of the actors were Kansans) were available for a Q&A and we learned that the artist has made his living from his art without ever having to take another job. The characters he met in NYC are endearing and are based on actual people, I think. He has done art in several countries. It was interesting to see how his vision was translated into a work of art although we never got to see it. During the credits, however, there are shots of some of the art he has created and it is lovely. I liked the movie a lot.

The film opens with a young Stan Herd living on a farm finding ways to use his imagination creating art on the land. He uses pretty much whatever he can find. For all the joy he finds creating his art in the dirt, he finds the real place to see it is from the air. While living on a farm near Lawrence, Kansas, he has the luck to have his work photographed by a New York photographer who suggests he find a way to do a project, an earthwork, in NYC. Stan Herd has enormous gumption and heart. He makes the trip to New York and convinces Donald Trump to let him do an earthwork on land Trump plans to later develop.

All of the actors deliver performances that are in the category of what I would call sublime. There's an unusual cast of characters who arrive one by one in the New York portion of the film. Stan Herd's Kansas family is supportive, kind and caring. These are people deserving of a quiet portrayal, with real emotion that comes through without having to rise to a passion that is bombastic. They make their points softly. John Hawkes becomes a very focused Stan Herd in this film. He shows us a strong minded, talented, trusting and sweet natured man. The audience gets pulled into his world, which is actually quite beautiful and full of sunshine.

I saw this film in a private showing and enjoyed it. I am predisposed to like indie films and this one did not disappoint. The story contained drama, heartbreak and wonderful interactions between the characters; and believe me, they were characters. The events will have you saying "You can't make this stuff up". Fact truly is stranger than fiction.

It was interesting to see John Hawkes as an entirely different character than the one he played in "Winter's Bone". He is a chameleon. James McDaniel was memorable as "Lone Wolf" and Laura Kirk played the long suffering wife with delicacy and grace.

This is a film that you root for. An indie film with great heart and honesty. John Hawkes, Chris Bachand and the rest of the cast deliver truthful performances that inspire. The audience can feel their passion, pain and most of all hope and the importance of friendship. The production makes most of what I'm sure was a limited budget.

This film deserves to be seen and hopefully as it continues to play and word of mouth continues to spread Chris Ordal, the screenwriter/director will have more opportunities to share his vision.

A side note: The opening credit sequence that represents the artist's work is truly beautiful.

I was struck by the film story. The fragile nature of the actual earthwork process, the complete commitment to realizing the installation against all odds: a fraying marriage, rupturing finances, a lack of real community support both back in Kansas and then on the Upper West Side of Manhatten. It is David and Goliath, with David's currency dissipating like so much sand leaking from a bag into the wind. All this against the harsh glare of New York City, huge corporate interests, the fickleness of the national media - all carried on a story line about a vulnerable family dynamic, a profound message of hope and a poignancy about a vulnerable planet, the challenge of conveying a message of sustainability and an example of respecting the earth and all that it is asked to do for us. I was very moved by the film and feel it's message is very strong and hopeful and needs to be heard by a very broad audience.