Land

On the Prairie Wolf Indian Reservation, the Yellow Eagle family is shattered by the news that their youngest son, Floyd, has died in military service in Afghanistan. As they await his return for burial, the family faces their own demons. Wesley, the surviving youngest son, drowns his grief in alcohol, spiraling into dangerous confrontations with the white liquor store owners just outside the reservation. Raymond, the eldest son, a recovering alcoholic, struggles with the burden of responsibility. But as violence erupts and the family’s world unravels, Raymond must find the strength to protect his family and honor his fallen brother. "The film creates a potent sense of a bleak backwater as the sound mix accentuates the whistling wind, munching cows and quiet of endless, unvarying days with little possibility of change. There is a nod to Ennio Morricone and the western genre in a musical score punctuated with howls and squeals and making expressive use of the sad songs of the late Townes Van Zandt. Agnes Godard’s cinematography captures the piercing, bleached light of the landscapes. There may be vast open spaces here but the long, lingering close-ups on individual faces suggest the way people are trapped, unable to escape their fate or the weight of history that continues to crush their spirits. Nothing is entirely black and white in Land; Mary is still a believer in her family, there are hostile white residents nearby but also those who offer the hand of friendship and there are Native Americans, like Raymond, who take a stand against a constant process of emasculation and commit to making themselves the architects of change." (Allan Hunter, on: screendaily.com)