Into the Forest (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Into the forest |
| Original title | Into the forest |
.png){kind=logo} | |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2015 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Patricia Rozema |
| script | Patricia Rozema |
| production |
Niv Fichman , Aaron L. Gilbert , Ellen Page |
| music | Max Richter |
| camera | Daniel Grant |
| cut | Matthew Hannam |
| occupation | |
| |
Into The Forest is a dystopian coming-of-age feature film from 2015 by Canadian director Patricia Rozema .
content
The film is set in a near future. Nell and Eva live with their father about 40 kilometers from the nearest town in a not yet completely finished house in the woods in northwestern Canada. The mother died not long ago. While Eva is pursuing a career as a dancer and preparing for an entrance exam, Nell is studying for the entrance test for college .
After the power went out, they learned from a solar-powered radio that the entire west coast was affected by the lack of power. Soon afterwards, communication with the outside world is no longer possible and the radio is no longer receiving anything. The water supply is also interrupted. At first the three go about their everyday life and wait for the situation to change. After ten days they drive into town together and find people who are at a loss. They manage to buy salt, canned food and some gasoline in an almost empty shop. Stan, a salesman, guards the shop with a gun. He is helpful but on the other hand makes a frightening impression. Gradually, there is increasing evidence that the persistent power failure is not just a temporary condition.
When the father dies in the forest from a life-threatening cut with a chainsaw while chopping wood, it is not only difficult for the sisters to survive, but also isolation and grief, which are very difficult for them. Eva is also increasingly suffering from not having to do her dance training accompanied by music.
Nell's friend Eli comes out of town on foot and tries to persuade the two of them to make their way to Boston because rumor has it that there is electricity there. Nell first sets off into the woods with him, but through the close bond with Eva, she realizes that she cannot leave her behind. She turns back.
Since the two chickens kept in an enclosure, which provided an additional source of food with their eggs, had previously been killed by wild boars, the sisters now collect berries that they dry or boil down.
One evening Nell and Eva help themselves to a bottle of schnapps, and Nell suggests putting some gasoline in the generator so they can listen to music. Instead, however, they then watch an older hobby video that shows a harmonious family life for the four.
While Nell is collecting blueberries one day in the forest, Eva is molested and raped by Stan, who the family bought from at the time. Then he steals her gasoline.
When they find an envelope in the house that says Pumpkin , they suspect it was a letter from their father, who named Nell Pumpkin . But the envelope contains pumpkin seeds (English pumpkin = pumpkin ). In order to be able to survive independently, the sisters create a garden.
Nell wakes her sister up with music to cheer her up. She had previously secretly filled and hidden some of the gasoline. This one had been overlooked by Stan.
Eva discovers her pregnancy and wants to keep the child while Nell thinks about an abortion. To prevent the baby from developing abnormally, Nell starts hunting wild boars in the forest. She imposes one, and through the knowledge she has acquired, she succeeds in gutting it and processing the meat with skill.
As the house is becoming more and more dilapidated and part of the roof collapses during a thunderstorm, they temporarily go to a small hut not far away. There Eva gives birth to a healthy boy.
More than a year has passed since the power outage. Eva sees major problems in the unsafe, black mold infested house. She convinces Nell to burn down the dilapidated house with the last gasoline and to break into the woods together with the child and a few belongings and mementos. You close with the past and start over. The title of the film becomes a reality.
Subject
to survive
In the first scenes, Into The Forest leaves no doubt that Nell and Eva are no exception in their generation, which is dominated by screens and the Internet. Against this background, the subsequent life without electricity appears to be a double challenge: It is not only about physical survival, obtaining food and protection from danger, but also about maintaining mental health. In this way, the power failure does not dissuade them from what characterizes them as individuals: Eva continues to practice her choreography, Nell is studying for the entrance test for college . Since the film does not name the reason for the power failure and the two sisters live in almost complete isolation, the film reminds one of the efforts to survive in earlier times: the young women become foragers, hunters and farmers.
Despite all the difficulties, the director gives the two sisters and the baby a glimmer of hope, which is not always the case in dystopian films. The word play can be found on the film poster and in the trailer: "Hope is power" (English = hope is power / power / electricity ). And Eva points out that people have been living on earth for around 200,000 years, but have only had electricity for 140 years and will be able to do without it again.
Relationship between Nell and Eva
The focus of the film is on the relationship between the two young women. In contrast to the comfortable world at the beginning of the film, Eva and Nell are completely dependent on each other after the power failure, which repeatedly tests their love for one another. During the time when Eli is visiting, Eva drops the insulting remark that there is no need for another eater here.
Production history
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jean Hegland from 1997, which was published in German-speaking countries in 1998 under the title Die Lichtung . Ellen Page proposed the film to Patricia Rozema. It was produced in Vancouver by Rhombus Media, Bron Studios and Creative Wealth Media Finance, and Ellen Page. It was Ellen Page's first film production. On October 21, 2013, it was announced that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood would be starring. The cast of the leading male roles with Max Minghella and Callum Keith Rennie could only be read almost a year later, after the film had started production. The world distribution is with Celsius Entertainment.
publication
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2015. It was screened there in the Group Special Presentation . In December 2015, the Toronto International Film Festival named Into The Forest in its list of Best Canadian Films of the Year. In Canada the film was released on June 3, 2016, in the USA on July 22, 2016. In Germany, the film was shown for the first time on June 25, 2016 as part of the Munich Film Festival . From February 17, 2017, it was also distributed on DVD .
Time of action
Details such as a tablet and smartphone made of glass indicate that the film is set in the near future.
reception
Subject
On the website of the Toronto International Film Festival there is a very positive review: the director has shown the vulnerability of our modern world and given the fearsome vision of the film a human-friendly touch. Sonja Hartl found positive words on kino-zeit.de for this “unusually calm dystopia” and its two protagonists, who neither need the protection of a man nor that of a group.
Acting performance
The “powerful and differentiated acting of the young women” by Ellen Page and Wood shows how the two put their place in the world and their relationship to their homeland, their country and each other to the test.
The performance of the two actresses was also praised in other reviews.
Cinematic and narrative level
But this, according to part of the criticism, cannot compensate for the weaknesses of Into The Forest on the filmic and narrative level. Although the events described in the novel provide for dramatic climaxes, the film fails to translate thoughts into action and thereby bring the characters to life. Despite all the appreciation for the representation of the relationship between the sisters “between symbiosis and tensions”, it was also criticized that the inner life of the two young women was “pathetically thin”. Although the celebrated ballet dancer and choreographer Crystal Pite is mentioned at the beginning in connection with Eva's choreography and Eva's passion for dance is shown, this topic does not come up later. Other voices, on the other hand, praised the "consistently character-oriented narrative style", through which the film "beneficially stands out from the mostly action-oriented representatives of the genre competition" and found the dramatization of the plot towards the end of the film unnecessary. "There is probably no other survival film in which the protagonists hug each other so much."
The lack of winter and other adversities that life in the Canadian wilderness brings with it has also been criticized; the struggle for survival is more challenging than the film suggests. However, this objection was put into perspective by the question: "If no wishes can be fulfilled in the cinema - where then?"
Representation of nature
According to the review in Variety , the eponymous forests are not adequately drawn: the mythical pull of the landscape that the title suggests is not felt enough in the film.
Position in film history
The review saw a connection to Danny Boyle's 127 Hours (2010) , in which James Franco is trapped in a crevice, and Soul Surfer (2011), about a young athlete in Hawaii who lost her arm to a shark. All three films showed extraordinary events in nature and the victory of strong-willed characters.
Awards and nominations (selection)
- 2016: Imagine Film Festival , Amsterdam: Awarded the Black Tulip (Jury Prize)
- 2016: Leo Award : Nomination for Best Visual Effects in a Motion Picture
Participation in film festivals (selection)
- 2016:! F Istanbul Independent Film Festival
- 2016: Imagine Film Festival, Netherlands
- 2016: Chicago Critics Film Festival
- 2016: Internationales Filmfest München, Spotlight series (German premiere)
- 2015: Toronto International Film Festival
- 2015: Vancouver International Film Festival
- 2015: Busan International Film Festival (South Korea)
- 2015: Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival
literature
- Interview: Ellen Page on Into the Forest's intimate apocalypse. In: cbc.ca. June 1, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2016 .
Web links
- Into the Forest in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Into the Forest . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; accessed on February 12, 2018).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Scott Tobias: Toronto Film Review: 'Into the Forest'. In: variety.com. September 13, 2015, accessed on July 16, 2016 .
- ^ Jean Hegland: Into The Forest. New York City, Bantam Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-553-10668-8 (English original edition).
- ↑ a b c Ellen Page on Into the Forest's intimate apocalypse. In: cbc.ca. June 1, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Alexandra Cheney: Max Minghella and Callum Keith Rennie Join 'Into the Forest' (EXCLUSIVE). In: variety.com. August 27, 2014, accessed on July 16, 2016 .
- ↑ Rebecca Ford: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood Head 'Into the Forest'. In: hollywoodreporter.com. October 21, 2013, accessed on July 16, 2016 .
- ↑ http://www.ssninsider.com/author/studio-system-n : On The Set For 7/28/14: 'Ted 2 ′ Starts For Universal Pictures,' The Greens Are Gone 'Wraps - SSN Insider. (No longer available online.) In: ssninsider.com. July 28, 2014, archived from the original on July 4, 2017 ; accessed on July 16, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Details - Munich Film Festival. (No longer available online.) In: filmfest-muenchen.de. June 25, 2016, archived from the original on July 17, 2016 ; Retrieved July 17, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/tiff-reveals-canadas-top-ten-film-festival-line-up/article27649543/
- ^ A b Sonja Hartl: Munich Film Festival 2016 - "Into the Forest" by Patricia Rozema. In: kino-zeit.de. July 2016, accessed July 17, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Magari Simnet: Into the Forest. (No longer available online.) In: tiff.net. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016 ; accessed on July 16, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e David D'Arcy: 'Into The Forest': Review. In: screendaily.com. September 13, 2015, accessed July 17, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Into the Forest (2015) - Review: Film criticism. In: outnow.ch. September 20, 2015, accessed July 17, 2016 .
- ↑ WWW.BIFF.KR ㅣ October 6-15, 2016. In: biff.kr. October 15, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016 (Korean).
