This is another 'minimalist' genre, in this case, a sort of western.
The story idea is an excellent one; there had to be a lot of guys fathering kids across the territories in this era. This film doesn't flash back to those exploits,, nor does it make clear how in the world any man would know about, much less be able to track-down every kid he sired, much less recall every gal he'd been with in the first place, and presumably didnt hang around long enough to ever know they got pregnant. Nor does this movie present the reality that most prostitutes did dyi abortions so as not to deter their career goals.
Minimal in story, character development, and dialogue, we simply watch the random elements occur as if we are passing by on the street. I can only assume that is exactly what the director intended.
Aside from the minimal narration we have no other clue what these characters are thinking, and never really totally clear why they do certain things they do.
Several minutes of scenes cover random things that do very little, or completely nothing to move the story forward or inform the viewer . . .
For example - the wife at her husbands grave repeating gradually louder 'the devil-the devil-the devil', the daughter finding a locket, & then the store clerk mentioning the locket - the focus on the purchase of & eating lemon drops, and it was never clear if the daughter was the twin . . .?
The over exaggerated scenes of characters walking, or the father acting confused? For example, one particular scene (after the father pokes out the Indians eyes and smothers him) we see the father in silhouette walking out thru golden grass grunting and groaning seeming confused. The viewer has no clue what's happening here. Is he remorseful? Giddy? Sickly?
Are we to assume that bc the father-character mostly grunts, and his voice is extremely stifled & muffled, along with often being called the devil, including the preachers judgements, maybe the father is demon possessed?
If you like minimal dialogue, (which btw, is often dialogue which is not what real people would say in any situation) and if you can decipher the minimalist cryptic messages in the minimalist dialogue , and if bland facial expressions & random behaviours give you all the info you need in a movie, then by all means, you'll enjoy this one.
I 'get' the idea of the minimalist film and the 'artistic-ness' of it, but it's just rarely ever interesting or entertaining. I like a little more background and a little more info with my beautiful vistas and compositions, and a little more reality.
The story idea is an excellent one; there had to be a lot of guys fathering kids across the territories in this era. This film doesn't flash back to those exploits,, nor does it make clear how in the world any man would know about, much less be able to track-down every kid he sired, much less recall every gal he'd been with in the first place, and presumably didnt hang around long enough to ever know they got pregnant. Nor does this movie present the reality that most prostitutes did dyi abortions so as not to deter their career goals.
Minimal in story, character development, and dialogue, we simply watch the random elements occur as if we are passing by on the street. I can only assume that is exactly what the director intended.
Aside from the minimal narration we have no other clue what these characters are thinking, and never really totally clear why they do certain things they do.
Several minutes of scenes cover random things that do very little, or completely nothing to move the story forward or inform the viewer . . .
For example - the wife at her husbands grave repeating gradually louder 'the devil-the devil-the devil', the daughter finding a locket, & then the store clerk mentioning the locket - the focus on the purchase of & eating lemon drops, and it was never clear if the daughter was the twin . . .?
The over exaggerated scenes of characters walking, or the father acting confused? For example, one particular scene (after the father pokes out the Indians eyes and smothers him) we see the father in silhouette walking out thru golden grass grunting and groaning seeming confused. The viewer has no clue what's happening here. Is he remorseful? Giddy? Sickly?
Are we to assume that bc the father-character mostly grunts, and his voice is extremely stifled & muffled, along with often being called the devil, including the preachers judgements, maybe the father is demon possessed?
If you like minimal dialogue, (which btw, is often dialogue which is not what real people would say in any situation) and if you can decipher the minimalist cryptic messages in the minimalist dialogue , and if bland facial expressions & random behaviours give you all the info you need in a movie, then by all means, you'll enjoy this one.
I 'get' the idea of the minimalist film and the 'artistic-ness' of it, but it's just rarely ever interesting or entertaining. I like a little more background and a little more info with my beautiful vistas and compositions, and a little more reality.