Review of Tideland (2005) by Ryan H — 17 Sep 2010

Tideland is one of those movies, as Gilliam says before the movie starts, that some people will hate it, some people will love it, and some won't know what to think. Right now I'm in between the love and don't know what to think.

It's incredible. The movie is so dark and dreary, and if he didn't do such a remarkable job of making this movie that I wouldn't be able to handle it. Only Gilliam has the ability to put it to the point that it's disturbing, but we still want to think about everything.

This is only because he has chosen to show the movie to us through the eyes of a little girl named Jeliza-Rose. Jodelle Ferland does an excellent job playing the main girl. The movie relies so much on her performance and she does it so gracefully that I can't believe she wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

Jeliza-Rose is a girl who has two parents that are completely incompetent. They are poor. They fight. They don't really care about their daughter. Jeliza is seen setting up her dad's next heroin fix a couple of times.

From the beginning we know it's going to be crazy. Then we see her sitting on her father's lap in the chair with a blonde wig on we think it can't go much further. Then we hear of silly kissers.

No more, right? Tell me what you think of the end. By the time we go through her whole experience we reach a point where we get slammed into reality. The movie is labeled a fantasy, but it doesn't seem too fantastical except for a couple of scenes.

But it is. Again, the way Gilliam sets the movie in Jeliza's perspective makes it a fantasy. In this way it reminds me of Pan's Labyrinth. They both have the same idea, but go about it in different ways.

Gilliam tends to be more of a raw filmmaker even in his scenes that are pure fantasy. There is always this mundane and emotional feel to it. Not trying to use the word mundane in a negative sense here.

And then in Tideland we have the Gilliam style cinematography that he likes to use in Fear and Loathing, Imaginarium, 12 Monkeys, etc. I feel that the audience was so disturbed by everything because they refused to let themselves become the child in the movie.

They kept forcing themselves out of the way Gilliam intended for them to watch it. I don't blame them, but there is definitely a certain way to watch Tideland to get the full effect. The thing I really liked about the writing was that it doesn't have much plot.

We aren't following a girl who has a certain goal. She is wandering aimlessly around the plains with her mentally retarded friend who has a crazy sister. Jeliza keeps waiting for her father to come out of his "vacation" but we know he's dead.

And writing something that is low on plot is perfect for a movie that is centered around a child. The only weak spot I found was the beginning. Perhaps Gilliam could have moved quicker to get to the neighbors, but I don't know if the movie would have held the same effect.

Definitely worth watching for any Gilliam fan!