Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake

Spiritual journeys, like dreams or creative endeavors—painting, writing, movie-making itself—are not easy to portray convincingly on the screen, because they are by nature interior experiences; yet in Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake Dominique de Fazio has done a remarkable job of bringing us inside the head, and heart, of Warner De Santis, a NASA cosmologist who after a car accident becomes "shipwrecked" in the Mojave Desert. This vast, apparently empty, and windswept place, which at first seems bleak and forbidding, slowly begins to reveal its rich complexity to De Santis and to the viewer. We are equally compelled by the the landscape itself, with its secret spirituality, captivating light, and haunting sky, as by the people who have landed in the hardscrabble town of Trona, California. Here De Santis falls into stories within stories as he finds himself drawn into staging musical in a threadbare roadside café with a handful of local people as actors. Alternately sad and comedic, logical and absurd, Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake features an array of supporting performances that are so natural that they stay with you long after the movie has ended. This is a movie for anyone who is a seeker, or who responds to gifted acting, or who can feel wonder at the mystery of human quest, and connection.

The movie is a unique blend of mysticism, science, comedy, drama and romance for all ages. This bricolage works well to tell a story about a NASA cosmologist searching for meaning in the universe and within his life. Interesting concepts in regards to the Big Bang are conveyed in the beginning, but the film becomes more about Werner's journey through the desert as he is introduced to a group of artists and a native (Aldred Montoya) who share the rich history of the surrounding land. Barry Livingston and Suzanne Snyder also have major roles, which help drive the film. The acting of De Fazio is inspiriting. Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake is about personal and universal discovery, and the solitude found within Mother Nature. With Carlos Nakai's music and the sweeping desert landscapes, you are sure to be transported on a journey through enlightenment.

Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake puts the "independent" back in Indie filmmaking. A thinking man's movie that is also full of heart, it is set in the apparently God-forsaken, dusty mining town of Trona,California. But though Trona may be hell to some, it is home to angels, mystics, artists, and expats, along with one very wise coyote—all of whom help transform a lost astronomer into a visionary who may or may not have found the origin of the universe, but who has certainly found new meaning in life. If you like the quirky characters of Fargo and Northern Exposure, the poetic scenery of the California desert, and the hauntingly beautiful music of Carlos Nakai, you'll love Dancing on a Dry Salt Lake.

This story, set in a dry and empty desert, offers to the audience a world that is full of wonder. The way in which the pictures and the music of this film are put together is marvelous. It is complex in it's simplicity and simple in it's complexity. Big questions are asked, meaningful questions. And yet everything is done with a very distinctive sense of humor. The mysterious mixes with the ordinary. And as much as this movie is out of the ordinary it relates to each and everyone of us, for it is about life, it's about where things come from and where they are going to, it's about the movement and the dance of life. ("Whoever doesn't dance does not know what's happening.")

This film has moved me very much. It is one of these rare movies that is not only for entertainment while watching it. No, it remained with me for many days. I cannot put into words what exactly touched me so much - but my heart and my soul were nourished by this film.

I laughed so much, but I also had tears in my eyes. I did not feel that I was watching a movie in many moments. It was more as if I was really there. And although it is Warner in the film who is on a spiritual journey, amazingly I was reminded of my own human soul.

The music by R. Carlos Nakai and the amazing pictures of the desert landscape complete this wonderful film.