Land

“Land” is not a movie that everyone is going to enjoy, but I really liked it. Robin Wright gives a bravura performance as Eydee, a city girl who suffers a heartbreaking tragedy and decides kind of ‘out of the blue’ to move to an isolated, run down cabin in the Rockies. She has no car, no electricity and no phone. There is no running water and her bathroom is a crumbling outhouse. She is also very ill-prepared to survive the harsh winters. She even tries to do some tasks by reading instructions as she tries them out. Most of the movie centers on Wright and her struggles to survive a harsh winter on her own. She faces brutal snow storms, destructive animals (including a bear who tears up her living area and food), and even starvation as she comes to realize that she needs more than the ‘How-To’ books she has brought with her. Eydee is saved by a stranger, the gentle and kind Miguel who promises to teach her survival skills. Together with a companion who is a nurse from the nearest town, they manage to nurse her back to health. Miguel gives her some companionship, and teaches her a few essentials – like learning how to shoot and dress a deer! Robin Wright also directed this and the scenery is exquisite. I don’t know if it will be nominated for any awards, but it is a decent movie with a partly sad ending (I’ll say no more) that somehow is still hopeful.