While a plot summary can be straightforward, this film is anything but.
The director, Asiel Norton (who co-wrote this with the film's producer, Magdalena Zyzak), set out to shoot a cinematic dream, and succeed. Thanks in large part to cinematographer Zoran Popovic, this film quickly gets inside your head and shakes things about. I would compare it favorably to the 1970's output of Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, or Terrence Malick. Every image looks like a hand-tinted old photograph come to life. The characters are covered in grime and dirt, suffering from starvation and rural boredom.
The film is frustrating. I didn't like the characters, couldn't quite make sense of things, and felt as isolated and out-of-sorts as the film's family. The sound design and music, both from T.K. Broderick, seemed determined to increase my unease, which they did. Just as in real life, dialogue is understood in snippets. I realized Norton was taking a snapshot of life in these creepy woods, which become a character as well, and the viewer may begin questioning the entire hero/villain, good/evil paradigm as they witness these people do what they must to survive.
Just like "The Passion of the Christ" or "Saving Private Ryan," this is not a popcorn-munching flick, constantly interrupted by trips to the bathroom or cell phone calls. This film doesn't simply ask you "what would you do in this situation?," Norton's direction puts you in the situation shown, where simple answers to stock characters' dilemmas are difficult to come by. There is one sequence near the end of the film, you will know it when you see it, that is so heartbreaking and so repulsive at the same time, I had problems watching it, yet Norton keeps your eyes on the screen, witnessing the horror.
The cast is so good, I cannot believe they were acting. I kept wondering if every shot of the film was planned, or did Norton and his crew happen upon some impressive footage they were able to utilize during editing? Either way, your eyes will dart all over the screen, trying to take every shaded detail in.
"Redland" is difficult. You won't want to go running down to the nearest coffee joint afterward to gab about it, it will stay with you, asking you the very same questions it asks of its characters. In this computer generated day and age, it's a throwback to intelligent filmmaking, and it's brilliant.
