I watched a lovely indy last night - "Sweet Land." It was a screener for members of Film Independent only (la-tee-da, I know), so it's not available yet for DVD rental. But it will be soon. I highly recommend it. It's about a Norwegian immigrant farmer in Minnesota in the 1920s who has his marriage arranged with a young woman who turns out to be German. Apparently at that time there was a lot of anti-German/anti-Socialist sentiment, so when the townspeople find out she's German, they essentially turn their backs on both of them and no one will marry them. She refuses to leave and he's too busy struggling with bringing in his corn crop alone and with no machinery to be too concerned. So she sleeps in the bedroom and he sleeps in the barn. She can't speak English and his is only broken, so they can barely communicate, at least with words. And they fall in love. And it's magical, because you fall in love with each of them yourself as the layers of their characters are revealed. They are strong, brave, compassionate people with hearts and wills as big as the all outdoors and you can't help but love both of them. And watching their furtive glances at each other and how they come to bond before they even touch each other's hands is sublime. Reminds me of something... I can't quite put a finger on it, but some other movie where love seemed to be being invented on the screen before our very eyes... It'll come to me...
On tap for this weekend: "Children of Men." I wasn't originally planning to see this one because I don't much like Julianne Moore, but I keep seeing too many good reviews and hearing too many people here and elsewhere say they felt like they were part of the action and it was thrilling, etc., to miss it.
