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57 |
195 |
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Plot:
After living abroad with her American missionary father, Lana (Michelle Williams) returns to the United States to begin college. But she gets sidetracked in a search for her only other living relative...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:April 1, 2008I have always thought highly of Wender's work and for me this film is no different. It appears to be rather under-rated; to be fair, the film is not at all subtle. It is a movie with a message, and if you feel annoyed by movies that state their intent then perhaps you shouldn't watch this film.
Nevertheless, I thought it was a brave film that managed to integrate Wender's typical themes (family, identity, memory, place) with the general topic of post-9/11 paranoia. The two anithetical characters of Lana and her uncle characterise the liberal/Republican poles of American politics, and thus symbolise a divided America. Anyone who has paid any attention to the standard of American political debate knows well that it is a land awash in ideology, the lowest possible standard of debate, decency, or intellect. According to the logic of this political milieu, people are either 'liberals' or 'Republicans' and once you decide to ghettoise yourself in either category you have your own political pundits, TV shows, radio personalities, periodicals and worthless books to tell you what supreme idiocies to believe. You also can include in this package a whole psychological profile. If you took Donnie Darko's rant against the division of everything into love and hate and applied it to American politics you'd have the awful truth. The incredibly hackneyed and emotive debate between the Left and Right results in nothing of substance being said, no issues being addressed, and nothing ever changing except that old verity - 'homo homini lupus'.
Just to contradict what I said, some psychological studies have found that people of liberal sympathies tend to be more open and caring towards other people, whereas Republicans tended to be more xenophobic and unfriendly. Not to draw any conclusions, but this seems to be a fair enough way of describing the difference between Lana and her uncle.
Where this film succeeds is in bypassing the ideological question in favour of the human one: what is it to be an American, what values does one uphold, and based on that how should we treat one another?
Given the irony of the title, 'Land of Plenty', given that the film is set in LA where poverty is rampant, one would expect a sad film. And it is - the paranoia of Diehl is a cover for his severely traumatised psyche and Lana is from Israel, enough said. However, Wender's lightness of touch, the humanity and humour of the film, provide some necessary warmth. The resolution to this film is rather weak and entirely unrealistic. Although I think the film is excellent in many respects, and whilst I sympathise with what Wenders is trying to do, it ultimately seemed to me a forced ending. However, just because this message is shared by every major religion and system of ethics does not make it less relevant. The times are bad and the film was inspirational in suggesting that what people need to do is show care for one another. Whether America can escape the vortex of its mass media and pseudo-intellectual enrages is another matter. -
MCT:January 5, 2008
Contra el odio, como muchas de las peliculas que salieron post 9/11, una condicion interesante acerca de como se puede alimentar la xenofobia con la incomprension y como, cerrandolo a un ambito mas personal, el encuentro de dos personas puede mejorarlas y sanarlas, me gusto mucho la actuacion de Michelle Williams y la parte tipo road movie, Wenders insiste en su formula, ahondando con sus personajes en contrastes persona/mundo
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MCT:October 25, 2007oh shit, i almost forgot to add this one to my favs! although none of my friends did like land of plenty, i think of it as the best wenders plus brilliant and touching masterpiece.
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MCT:September 25, 2007corny. over dramatic. choppy. no thorough character development. over two hours of "surfacy" propaganda. avoid at all costs.
and i love michelle williams too. i'm not going to bring politics into this because that's just a different issue -- but i'm a liberal who HATED this movie. i just don't like movies with agendas. i love things with subtlety -- this is just completely overdone.
oh gloria stuart is in it -- ya know? titanic lady... -
MCT:September 1, 2007Wenders gets it right, again. A delicate understanding of post-9/11 America, and how could one not like an ending that has Leonard crooning?
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