This film filled two theatres at the Palm Springs International Film Festival...for a morning show, that's impressive. And I wish the film had been too. The landscape was fantastic, and I love the subtlties of films like this, that show the essence of humanity across all borders. But how could you like either character in this film? Whereas a slow-progressing character piece like LOST IN TRANSLATION fills out the essence of each character, DISTANT did little other than establish the distance between the two relatives.
Character films are often tough to judge, on the basis that plots are light, and the bulk of the movie is in subtext. What you think about characters when you leave the film is imperative...did they move you? At the end of LOST IN TRANSLATION, I didn't know where the characters were going, but I hoped they did well...I missed them. When I left DISTANT, I didn't know where the characters were going, and I didn't really care.
Character films are often tough to judge, on the basis that plots are light, and the bulk of the movie is in subtext. What you think about characters when you leave the film is imperative...did they move you? At the end of LOST IN TRANSLATION, I didn't know where the characters were going, but I hoped they did well...I missed them. When I left DISTANT, I didn't know where the characters were going, and I didn't really care.