Voyage en terre solitaire

We all love to see places that seem alien and completely bereft of modernity. The lush mountains, the historic villages that seemingly have no electricity or running water and just the rustic appeal of the supposed third world. Every now and then we have that little itch to explore these places, and that is where the film The Loneliest Planet excels in. Other than that, it doesn't excel at much else.

I guess the problem comes from the trailer, which made this sound like a major issue was going to form between the protagonists Alex and Nica. They seem very much in love and quite comfortable, but it is revealed late in the movie they may have some trust issues. While this is typical of these type of movies where stresses create relationship cracks, it wasn't anything too earth rattling. Even the major moment where the marital bliss is challenged doesn't illustrate this. Another reviewer on this page suggested this would have been a better short film. I would have to agree.

I will say the scenery of the Caucasus Mountains is extraordinary, making me wish I had the means to go out there and experience it for myself. Other than that, a well shot and composed film with little else to really offer.

"The Loneliest Planet" is about an American couple on holiday in Eastern Europe, Georgia accompanied by a guide they befriend. They face some hardships and determinations, almost like a pilgrimage.

I went to this film not knowing what to expect, So I was pretty open to anything at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

It started out promising and intriguing, some parts were very interesting to the film's setting and the character's experience in traveling across a vast and unknown terrain. The acting is very Mediocre, the woman looks a lot like Jessica Chastain but less talented.

Its very artistic and visually stunning in cinematography, camera-work and editing that really captures the beauty and resonance.

The script however is very shallow and has minimal dialogue thats very incoherent, the character development isn't too good either, a lot more could have been done on most story elements which lets the film down a lot.

I found it dragging halfway through and became disappointed about the film's conclusion. I found it quite satisfying but a bit of a let down, this is also the first film at the festival that no one clapped at the end.

3/5

While it does have something profound to say about relationships and how one moment can make or break them, "The Loneliest Planet" takes so long to get to its rather poignant yet elusive point, that it may seem to some as a bit too meandering. BUT, if you can stay with it, independent writer/director Julia Loktev does deliver with a payoff that is hauntingly thought provoking, with a high potential for inducing provocative discussions. Written (adapted from a short story from Tom Bissell) and exquisitely directed by Loktev using a plethora of expressive long takes, "The Loneliest Plant" stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg and centers around a young, adventurous and engaged to be married couple, who travel on a backpacking trip along the Caucasus Mountains, lead by a local Georgian guide. Sounds riveting right? Well, the initial hour does play out like a rather dull, elongated version of a short story, but then something happens that essentially changes the entire relationship dynamic, and more importantly allows the second half of this 2 hour film to slowly blossom into a tragic and quite engaging dissection of the male and female roles in a relationship. At times "The Loneliest Planet" displays thematic similarities to 2012's independent female relationship point of view film "Take this Waltz", but Loktev seems to be able to get her female visual prospective across with slightly more clarity, while still keeping a fascinating air of ambiguousness.

The truth is "The Loneliest Planet" is a hard film to review because it is contingent on one scene (really one physical movement) an hour into the picture, that I can't really talk about. But what I can say is that the latter half of the movie (after the big scene) although consists of Bernal and Furstenberg continuing to walk around the Caucasus Mountains (mostly in silence) is quite a moving piece of cinema that does show off Loktev's Malick-esque directorial skills.

On the other hand, this film is not for everybody. What will ultimately hold this back for many, will be the (at times) too Independent for its own good feel of the entire picture, as Loktev holds on shots for minutes at a time where nothing seems to be going on, and spends a lot of time filming characters ad-libbing their dialogue. Other issues may come down to the free flowing (slow) pacing of "The Loneliest Planet", which may leave many walking out of this movie questioning: Was Loktev's introspective inquiries really worth the journey? Final Thought: In my opinion this sort of Avant-garde piece about a couple under duress is very much a film geared more towards female audiences. That is to say, the main focus is not Bernal. He is only the vehicle that helps show the nature of the male counterpart. The real star of the show here is Furstenberg, who displays the complex prospective of a female outlook on relationships exceptionally well, and thusly what she goes through should be more fully understood by female audiences. That is not to say that men will not enjoy this film, but for most men, "The Loneliest Planet" may be too hard of a pill to swallow. Plus, if you are currently a male in a relationship, this is one movie that may only serve to plant the seed of an awkward conversation (which in turn, probably is the point).

Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland

Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

Gael García Bernal and Hani Furstenberg are an engaged couple backpacking in Georgia along with their local guide. Along the way, they meet up with some locals and one incident causes a major rift between the couple. It is not really spoken of but yet it surely existed. The question then becomes can they heal the rift and reconnect.

I understand the need for this to be understated. That's what's so important here. We don't want some drag out screaming match. But understated doesn't have to mean grindingly slow. At times, there's too many no-talking-slow-walking-long-distance-extended scenes. Those aren't all necessary. Cut those down and insert more dialog.

The Loneliest Planet - The sophomore effort from writer/director Julia Loktev, this film follows a young American couple as they take a trek through the man's ancestral homeland in Georgia (the nation, not the state)'s Caucus mountains. I am unfamiliar with the director's previous effort (2006's Day Night Day Night) but regret to say that The Loneliest Planet did not really inspire me to seek her earlier work out. The problem lies primarily with the screenplay, especially the first hour, which plays more like high quality excerpts from someone's vacation video than like a narrative picture. NOTHING happens. Okay, that's an exaggeration, there are a FEW bits of characterization and foreshadowing that lend to the storyline. However, with a run time of an hour and fifty odd minutes, the movie's first seventy-five could easily have been cut to thirty without detracting from the (minimal) story that the script sets out to tell. Without the lovely cinematography contributed by Inti Briones, the first half of the film would be practically unwatchable.

Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries, Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Hani Furstenberg (Yossi and Jagger) do respectable jobs as the vacationing couple, but are not really given enough dialog or activity to really show us what they are capable of. First time actor Bidzina Gujabidze actually outshines them both as their tour guide, his "local color" helping to bridge some of the more debilitatingly slow passages of the film, but even he is fighting an uphill battle. I can appreciate the point of Loktev's story, but it just didn't constitute a two hour movie. It might have made a nice short film...2 1/2 of 5 stars.

Review brought to you by www.TheMovieFrog.com