Edee (Robin Wright), in the aftermath of an unfathomable event, finds herself unable to stay connected to the world she once knew and in the face of that uncertainty, retreats to the magnificent, but unforgiving, wilds of the Rockies. After a local hunter (Demián Bichir) brings her back from the brink of death, she must find a way to live again.
What happened to basic human kindness? What happened to our connection to each other, and to Nature? Everything is radicalized, trivialized, abbreviated, and judged. We are so immersed deep within our own, digitized bubbles, we forget the things that matter, neglect the brevity of our fleeting lives. Once all the social media posting and the posturing and the trolling and the complaining fades away, what’s left? Death’s pitch-black cloak and a lifetime’s worth of regrets.
Sometimes it takes a tragic event to snap us out of the stupor. Robin Wright’s directorial debut, “Land,” centers around a character who experiences an unimaginable tragedy. Things aren’t “put in perspective” for her — they are brutally reassembled. She can’t stand the world anymore. She escapes, away from the incessant droning, into the silence — where she ironically discovers true humanity. “Land” is a beautiful elegy, a minimalist film that touches upon something as powerful as it is basic, with nary a strained embellishment in sight. Most importantly, it’s honest, spilling straight from the heart onto celluloid.
“I’m feeling that it’s really difficult to be around people because they just want me to be better,” Edee (Wright) tells her sister Emma (Kim Dickens), in the wake of losing her husband and son. She then absconds to the Wyoming wilderness — a run-down shack in the most gorgeous/treacherous/isolated of places. Even the local U-Haul driver hesitates ominously before leaving Edee to her own devices.
With no prior survival experience, Edee delves right in. She brushes her teeth with baking soda. She awkwardly chops wood. She attempts to fish and hunt. A close encounter with a bear leaves her with next-to-no provisions. Throughout all this, her mind is elsewhere, haunted by the past, by her sister’s resonant words: “Don’t hurt yourself… For me?”
Edee comes close to meeting her end, when kindly hunter Miguel (Demián Bichir), along with nurse Alawa (Sarah Dawn Pledge), come to the rescue. Miguel stays behind to look after Edee. “Why are you helping me?” Edee asks. “You were in my path,” he replies. They proceed to bond: he teaches her how to fish and hunt; she warms up to him but remains reluctant to divulge anything about her past. A deeply human bond is formed. And then he leaves. I won’t spoil the heartrending finale, but I will say this — it’s been a while since I actually teared up during a film’s denouement.
With just a few brush strokes (at 85 minutes or so, “Land” is the definition of succinct), Wright paints a vivid portrait of human grief, endurance, and kindness. She explores what it would be like to just drop everything, bid contemporary society goodbye, try to deconstruct a frazzled mind by blindly fleeing into Nature. Wright’s film is about the turmoil and solace of loneliness, and the importance of true selflessness. It’s about seeking comfort in isolation and finding it in companionship. In a way, as corny as it sounds, “Land” is about the meaning of life itself.
Cinematographer Bobby Bukowski captures stunning images of awe-inspiring vistas — pink sunsets and post-blizzard skies — juxtaposing them against Edee’s claustrophobic agony. Wright has a strong eye for visual detail; the standout shot of her, shriveled on a wooden floor, basked in a single cold ray of light, will remain frozen in your memory. I’m not a fan of country or folk music, but the soundtrack by the band Time for Three blends seamlessly with Ben Sollee’s mournful score, never overwhelming the elegantly sparse narrative.
Wright herself is marvelous. She’s a living legend, no doubt — I cannot recollect a single poor Robin Wright performance — but in “Land,” she achieves moments of pure transcendence with a mere smile. She takes us on an intimate journey, and we’re witnessing every step, every nuance, of her transformation. Bichir’s Miguel is kindness personified; he may have never seen “Star Wars,” but he knows more about the wars being waged within Edee’s soul than perhaps she herself does. The rest of the cast shines in tiny roles, Wright’s generosity as a director quite apparent.
We’ve all harbored feelings of what it would be like, to leave everything behind, run away, isolate ourselves from computers and TV screens, and the constant assault on the senses. Other filmmakers have dealt with brave and/or stupid folks venturing into the unknown — see: “Wild,” “Into the Wild,” “Tracks” — but none as sharply and eloquently as Ms. Wright. “I want to notice everything around me more,” her character states. Amen to that.
“Land” premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, Jan. 31st, and will open in theaters Friday, Feb. 12th
