Limbo
Synopsis: After being attacked during a boating trip, a fisherman, his girlfriend and her teenage daughter swim out to a deserted island off the cost of Alaska.
Technical Details
|
Review
In Limbo, legendary independent director John Sayles takes us to the scenic landscapes of Alaska. The first half of the film follows a number of people who turned to the northern state for different reasons. In the second half the film changes focus and depicts a compelling story of human survival that, at least for me, is what defines this excellent film.
The three main characters are Donna De Angelo, a night club singer who came to Alaska to escape her troubled life in the mainland; Noelle, her unhappy teenage daughter, tired of being dragged around from place to place by her mother; and Joe Gastineau, an ex-fisherman who left the fishing business after having an incident that still haunts him. In the first part of the film these and several other characters provide an excuse for Sayles to present different views on issues such as the indiscriminate use of natural resources, investors that are constantly looking for money making opportunities, lack of employment, etc.
On the second part the film focuses on Donna, Noelle and Joe. Donna and Joe start dating, and when Joe’s brother Bobby shows up and asks Joe to go with him on a boating trip to meet a group of suspicious people at sea, he invites Donna and Noelle to come along. The people they were supposed to meet are far from friendly, and things turn ugly pretty quickly, so Donna, Noelle and Joe have to escape the boat swimming to save their lives. They will arrive to a deserted island, where they need to prepare for a possible long stay, given the small chance of another boat navigating this remote area. Inside an abandoned hut Noelle finds a diary that belonged to a family that occupied the place long ago. Every night, they will build a fire, and Noelle will read from the diary to Joe and Donna. As they follow the unfortunate events of the family in the diary they can’t help but to draw a parallel with their own tragic situation.
This film has earned mixed reviews, in part because of its unusual ending that divides the audience into those who loved it and those who hated it. Setting aside the issues some may have with the ending, there are too many good things about this film that cannot be ignored. The survival story in the second half of the movie, along with the story within the story, this tale that Noelle reads from the diary she found, are both extremely powerful.
Like other John Sayles movies, the actors are all perfectly cast and are excellent in their roles. In particular, Vanessa Martinez does a great job in the difficult role of Noelle. The beautiful scenery of Alaska is also nicely captured on several exterior scenes.
©2008 by Miguel Grinberg
Good
Fair
Bad
Stinker
RSS