Twentynine Palms

For the first time, Dumont has made a film in America, away from his familiar northern France. Looking for locations for another film, the film maker became fascinated by the imposing Joshua Tree Desert in California. The indefinable fear that crept up on him through the intangible expanse of this unique landscape motivated him to make this film. A photographer, accompanied by his new girlfriend, enters the desert near the small community of Twentynine Palms looking for locations. The two seem very much in love, but cannot communicate, because they express themselves in different languages. Together they discover the desert, lose themselves in the wild nature and make love often and uncomplicatedly. It is an encounter, depicted without frills, between two people and the immense empty desert, with an ever present vague threat that culminates in a cruel ending. Against the spectacular background of the breathtaking images of the desert, Dumont creates a powerful dose of suspense as the attention of the characters often seems attracted to things off-screen or somewhere in the background. The wilderness and the uneasy relationship between the two protagonists have a gruesome potential, so the film continually puts its viewers to the test.