By snoadmin
The strange and experimental new film “The Loneliest Planet,” from director and writer Julia Loktev (“Day Night Day Night”), uses memories of Loktev’s parents and the beautiful Georgian landscape to articulate a story about a young engaged couple traveling through Russia and toward Georgia.
Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) are infatuated with one another and have an innate love of the outdoors and a passion for exploration.
Though they rarely speak throughout the film, the audience learns about Alex and Nica through their actions, expressions, body language and overall presence. This is one of the more unique aspects of the film, as it challenges the audience to gather their own field notes on the setting, characters and their interactions.
The dialogue in the film is few and far between, focusing more on the sounds of nature and the character’s physical, emotional and nonverbal communication styles.
In the film, the couple hires a native tour guide, Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze), to lead them through the breezy terrain while they practice conjugating their Russian verbs as part of a game they play to master the language. The Georgian dialogue in the film is not subtitled, which places the audience in the shoes of the characters, who also don’t speak the language.
As the tour goes on, the couple speaks less and less to each other, until a traumatic event takes place during their trip, forcing the young couple to re-evaluate their love and everything they know about each other.
Inti Briones, director of photography, uses space and open areas to emphasize the mood of the story in that scene. This is essential because the film actually has very little plot, and most of what’s going on needs to be extrapolated from the visuals alone.
Briones illustrates an emotional distance by panning out the characters and showcasing their physical distance. This contrasts their feelings with their overall presence, allowing the audience to fully absorb the intensity of the moment and the storyline. While Alex, Nica and Dato explore through rocks and rain, they are exposed to different layers of themselves and each other.
Some moviegoers would argue that one of the most enticing aspects of a film is not knowing what to expect. While a little bit of ambiguity is bearable and most audience members can gauge motives and plot lines, Loktev is asking a lot of her audience to build the story themselves.
Because of its attention to the difference in communicative styles, this film is more than a love story. It integrates emotion, gender, culture, lust and self-actualization through different channels and lets the audience take on the responsibility of filling in the blanks.
Although not recommended for a date, “The Loneliest Planet” is strongly recommended for a theory or analysis course. The film is very experimental and excels at painting humans to be constructs of interdependency and curiosity.
“The Loneliest Planet” is set for limited release on Oct. 26. The film will also be available nationwide via Sundance Selects’ on demand platform.
3 out of 5 shovels
