Instructional debates from actors are always interesting for the insight they give performers and their creative instincts. Feature film director Robin Wright’s first appearance of “Land” offers an interesting look into her perspective as a filmmaker and as an actor. In it, Wright directs himself in a survival story of grief and isolation that deviates sharply from the ways we think of it on screen. “Land” premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and in its opening moments introduce us to Edee Mathis (played by Wright), a woman on a mission to unplug from the world. Totally.
We don’t know why, although we start to speculate early on, but as Edee goes to the mountains – pinching his iPhone to avoid an incoming call in the early seconds – it seems special of unfit for life in the desert. As she retrieves the keys from the isolated cabin, the keeper questions her readiness, especially her lack of a vehicle. She stops it, though as she begins to set herself up for the coming winter, her mindless, deliberate loneliness looks less like an ideal getaway and more like a potential suicide mission. Not quite, but it is not an entirely unfunny read of what will happen during the ninety minute film.
In the film’s first scenes, a short moment before the desert, Edee struggles to explain her state of mind to her therapist. She is angry at the people around her who all want her to be magically better. But she couldn’t be better. And right now, she doesn’t want to be. What she wants is to test her limits. And so, “Land” fashions itself is a survival drama as Edee works through grief. Grief over what? We don’t learn until the end of the film, but the details of that grief seem appended especially for a third of the film that includes Edee’s lonely, increasingly dangerous, lonely time in the cabin.
Low on story, but high on landscape photography, this part of the film is marked by its silence. We need little context to understand Edee, who seems to be held together by pain, ambiguity and grief. The monotony of its existence is harrowing, and Wright centralizes the grim and punitive nature of that loneliness both economically and relentlessly. That this loneliness leads to an almost dying experience feels inevitable, but the moment comes midway through the film when Edee’s loneliness is pierced for the better by the rescue of local rescuer Miguel Demián Bichir Edee from herself but battling herself demons.
From there “Land” becomes a two-person play as Edee becomes entrusted with Miguel and reconsiders her demise about staying alive. Story-wise, this is very familiar stuff but Wright’s mark as a director is her sincere seriousness for these characters and this story. The screenshots, by Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam, offer a rather familiar idea of exploring nature as a means of psychic healing. Depending on your perspective, the story feels like a cousin to surviving plays like “Into the Wild” and or “127 Hours”, recalling stories of turning to the land in the face of grief such as “Wild” or the recent “Nomadland” or even a riff on the story of a good woman to make her learn about a world different from her own in a moving “Eat Pray” type.
It is a familiar center, even if the ways of developing it can achieve completely different results. “Land”, for example, is notable in denying any opportunity to investigate the psychology of its characters. It makes me wonder what Wright drew from the script. The idea, a woman struck by the reconstruction of grief, is compelling even as the script itself is so minimalistic that it leaves the audience trying to project our own ideas of the world. It’s sturdy and an enjoyable watch, but also surprisingly less impactful than you’d consider by the time it goes to its final act.
And yet, that this is the vehicle that Wright chose for his first feature film feels informative. She refers herself to an outstanding performance – she is in almost every frame – but this is not a vanity trip. The film is pretty solid about being the fragile, quiet waves of melancholy and silence that define its aesthetics. I’m curious to see what Wright does next. “Land” may get lost in the shuffle of silent films about solitude, but in moments where Bichir and Wright share an informed view with each other or sit in peaceful silence, it’s a film that recognizing the need for human connection with extraordinary defect. of sentiment. It’s a compelling first feature by Wright the director, and an even better vehicle for Wright the actress.
The land premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the premiere section.