Land of Plenty

A relatively small production. Not Paris, Texas. Shot on digital. Quickly written. Written with urgency. And shot from the hip. From the first word on paper to the last shot, the production only took forty days. That is incredibly short. And you can’t see that either, although the film has a fluent lack of complexity that contributes to its power.Lana and Paul are related, but they don’t know each other. Lana is a young idealist who has traveled through Europe and Africa, Paul is a war veteran who has embraced the ideology of Free America. For Lana, the unknown uncle is her only link with her mother’s family. They are really poles apart, but when they witness the apparently random shooting of a homeless man from the Middle East, they decide to investigate together. A quest that, as befits a real Wenders, takes them through fascinating American landscapes.Wenders is undoubtedly one of the most authoritative and characteristic film makers of his generation. That does not mean that every film he has made since his rich early period has been equally successful. This film, however, is undoubtedly one of his best. The kind of film that only he would appear able to make. Films in which the landscape speaks volumes and the people speak by remaining silent. (GjZ)