Review of The Loneliest Planet (2012) by Robert B — 22 Dec 2012

Beautiful to watch, emotionally intrusive in experience and tone, "The Loneliest Planet" is a must see film. It's a film that disguisse itself as a small story about an engaged couple who take a hiking trip in the Caucasus Mountains of Georg.

Ia in the summer before they get married. Alex (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenserg) are glee on screen together as they travel the extreme depths of what the world's landscapes have to offer. Their on screen presence is very intimate, vibrant, and emotionally raw that it echoes the radical filmmaking style of Clair Denis, most notably "35 Shots of Rum". They travel with a local Georgian guide (played by real-life mountaineer Bidzina Gujabidze) , newcomer indie writer-director Julia Loktev (Day Night Day Night) has crafted a visually rich, mostly wordless observational look at love, she alternates between the intimate moments, to the desolated and distancing ones as the couple endures many trials and tribulations that ultimately tests the endurance of their relationship. The film is shot in all exteriors; there is many awe inspiring landscapes that makes the experiences sweeping and earthly. The Loneliest Planet is one of the strongest films of the year, mostly a poetic film filled so much aural and poetic feeling and tone. Every moment evokes a feeling and both Bernal and Furstenserg bring so much subtly and deep emotions that it proves that internal conflict can be minimal and every bit as dramatic. The film is emotional and internal; the film profoundly examines how a couple discovers things about each other, and even themselves. This film shows what it's like to explore the earth and how we can't escape our own loneliness that exists within. Rating **** out of ****.