Lane 1974

I wasn't really impressed by this story if I have to be honest. For a biography I thought it would be something special but it's just the story about a bunch of hippies living of the grid. Probably the most unhappy hippies I ever witnessed. The mother is clearly a bit deranged, not an easy person to live with, and that's quite the opposite I would imagine with hippies. The acting is good though, from the whole cast. But the story is just a bit boring, not really anything special about it. You just feel kind of sorry for the children but that's about it qua emotions.

Well made. Real. It's not often such a simple film grabs me with it's underlying complexity.

Very well made on a shoestring budget. Well directed AND acted. I was impressed. It's difficult to find quality without the glam these days so we tend to lose some of the realism, the place where depth of feeling resides. Thank you for a wonderful film!

There are two related things that make this an amazing movie: One is the director's ability to capture Sophia Mitri Schloss' great performance as a child who grows up in various communes in the 1970's. It is difficult trick to create a continual set of images that provide an immediate and profound connection to a single character's emotional state. Somehow, SJ Chiro manages do this in such a way that one always feels deeply connected to Lane's emotions.

The second is the film's amazing aesthetic sensibility. Every shot is a kind of beautiful tableau, often of the protagonist in a natural setting. This is not for its own sake: Even though the film contains a lot of sadness and instability, there is always the sense that each scene is connected to the richness of Lane's own sensory and emotional experiences, that her own intense sensory perceptions transcend the various forms of loss that she experiences.

You may leave with the sense that your own sense of empathy and emotional receptiveness has been heightened by this beautiful film.

I really enjoyed Lane's character as she navigates her mother's contrarian, irreverent forays into ever deeper abnormality. This was very relevant to me for personal reasons. A great reminder that children need stability and will rebel in order to get it. Lane's introspective journey was well portrayed. The visit with the grandparents was especially poignant. Being born into an anti-establishment family carries very different burdens for children and this film portrays them with great sensitivity and subtlety. There are very few films I'd watch twice but I'm considering making Lane 1974 an exception.