The Agency's Posts

NBC confirms Jimmy Fallon will replace Jay Leno in 2014: Ending weeks of gossip and speculation, NBC confirmed thatJimmy Fallonwill succeedJay Lenoas....
Read More>

'Game of Thrones' renewed for fourth season: While its future wasn't in much doubt, fans of HBO's lavish fantasy series"Game of Thrones&
Read More>

Justin Timberlake tops album chart with 968,000 copies sold: He didn't quite hit the million-sold mark, though he came awfully close. Capping a....
Read More>

'Croods,' 'Olympus' rise at box office. CBS eyes TV Guide Network.: After the coffee. Before the matzo ball soup. The Skinny:I'm in D.C. forPassover, and it....
Read More>

Review: 'Olympus Has Fallen' a remix of standard action fare: Antoine Fuqua's White House-under-siege thriller doesn't add anything new to the genre, and....
Read More>

'Phil Spector,' on trial: HBO's movie about the record producer's murder trials distorts the truth and serves only to....
Read More>

Review: Justin Timberlake's 'The 20/20 Experience': It’s not hard to figure out whyJustin Timberlakehas been pushing an old-school vibe in....
Read More>

MGM plans for a new Bond movie 'within three years': MGMStudios plans to send James Bond on his next mission sooner than later, announcing Wednesday....
Read More>

'Burt Wonderstone': Has Carell made the most of post-'Office' life?: Steve Carellleft “The Office” for the same reason most actors do: to concentrate....
Read More>

'Spring Breakers' has virtues in its vices, critics say: Despite the initial shock over alt-film provocateurHarmony Korineteaming up with....
Read More>

Gerard Butler on Sacrificing His Life, Declining the '300' Sequel and His ... Bar Mitzvah: Gerard Butlerhas seen these kind of odds before. The Scottish actor stars in the March 22....
Read More>

Comedian Dave Chappelle resurfaces and speculation begins anew: After joking with Chris Rock about a possible tour at a recent stop at New York's Comedy Cellar,....
Read More>
'The Loneliest Planet' is a revealing journey
Posted on: 10/28/12
Share/Save/Bookmark
 

Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg star as backpacking couple whose relationship is tested in Julia Loktev's intimate and beautiful film.




In "The Loneliest Planet," the faces and bodies of the adventurous couple at the center of the film's journey do most of the talking, and pretty eloquently I might add. So driven is filmmaker Julia Loktev to immerse us in the couple's existential experience that dialogue is nearly nonexistent and stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg are often little more than specks on the horizon. It's as if Strasberg's Method acting techniques — that focused approach to "become" someone else, all baggage explored and absorbed by the actor — has been adopted by the director.

The movie opens with Nica (Furstenberg) naked, covered in soap, jumping up and down to keep from freezing, as Alex (Bernal) pours hot water over her, pitcher by pitcher. The setting is rustic, crowded with a chattering family speaking in a language Alex and Nica clearly don't understand. Like the couple, we are left in the dark. We can tell they are safe, and that they are very much in love — a tenderness in even the most casual touch, as if reassuring themselves that what they have is real.

Through a string of similar small, telling moments — intimate, personal, ordinary — the story comes together. We've caught Alex and Nica a few weeks before their wedding as they backpack across the Caucasus Mountains. A bit of street bartering connects them with a local guide named Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze, in real life a top-ranked Georgian mountaineer). The sureness in Dato's step as he moves along ribbon-thin mountain trails, or fords streams churned rough by rapids, even his patience in waiting out a rainstorm, all form a kind of ballast for the sometimes euphoric, sometimes rocky emotional terrain.

Alex and Nica's shifting feelings about themselves and each other form the heart of the screenplay, which Loktev adapted from a Tom Bissell short story and her own experience of backpacking the region with a boyfriend, now an ex. The travel itself becomes a crucible for the couple; the very unpredictable nature of such journeys stress-testing for cracks.

Within all the silence, and despite Loktev's often-distant lens, there is a complex conversation going on between Alex and Nica. The vagaries of relationship dynamics in a feminist world and the notion of what it means to be a man in these modern times are examined.

As circumstances ripple through the lovers' emotions, there are discoveries about each other that are not easy to get past. When the turning point comes, the silence becomes even deeper. Most of it is written on Nica's agonized face and in Alex's slumped shoulders, a vulnerability that speaks volumes. The question that hangs in the air is not only if, but how, the relationship will weather the storm.

Shot on location by cinematographer Inti Briones, "Planet" is a piece of art even without Bernal and Furstenberg, who are like moving portraits of themselves in this film. The landscape is breathtaking, pristine mountains that dwarf the trekkers. Sometimes the screen is literally filled by the massive green monoliths, awash in sunlight, drenched in shadows. Sheep and gnarled shepherds move across meadows scattered by wildflowers. Crumbling remnants of villages occasionally interrupt all this excess of the natural world, echoes of other lives. Stylistically, the film continues the voyeuristic sensibility Loktev brought to her first feature, 2006's "Day Night Day Night." Though she takes her time in "Planet," there is more attention to the pacing, significant when the structure is so vaporous.

Bernal and Furstenberg exist within this meditative space with all the ease and unease of a couple still trying each other on for size. The forces that push and pull them feel so rooted in reality that if not for the layers of meaning it might seem a complete improvisation. Both are beautiful to watch in unconventional and interesting ways that the camera takes full advantage of.

There are a few things that disrupt the peace in "The Loneliest Planet." The plot twists that put their moral fiber to the test are nicely nuanced. But Richard Skelton's haunting score is peripatetic — sneaking in with great subtlety, only to drop away suddenly, momentarily pulling you out of the film. But it's a minor quibble, for this journey of two lovers is well worth taking

COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal