Review of The Loneliest Planet (2012) by Joshua F — 20 Dec 2012

THE LONELIEST PLANET organically meanders with very minimal dialogue and seemingly endless shots of an engaged couple and their guide hiking through rough terrain. Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenbergâ(TM)s unadorned performances fit with the overly patient capturing of their trekking and love-making.

Yet, when their relationship is challenged, the long, silent shots beg for action. Despite the two charismatic leads, the film pitfalls into moody tone shifts and stretches out what is instantly (and expertly) made clear through stunning visuals.

What could have been an excellent, engaging short film became a tedious exploration that lacks the depth to be a character study, the insight to be a meditation on love, or the subtext to classify it as a metaphor of human dependency.

The title would suggest that these characters reflect all humanity â" wandering the world accompanied but ultimately alone. Yet, Julia Loktevâ(TM)s direction is strangely content to follow these characters without truly examining, questioning, or presenting the purpose.

Why do these characters need one another? Is it love, need, or habit that binds them? Are each individualâ(TM)s inscapes so remote that loneliness is the true reality? The isolated landscapes and the uncertain wilderness are the perfect backdrop for these questions to be addressed, but unfortunately the film meanders all the way to its trite, anticlimactic end.