Monday, August 11, 2008


“Nulle Part Terre Promise“ (“Nowhere Promised Land”)

A French film set partly in France and partly in Hungary telling three crossing tales of a young female art student traveling across Europe as she videotapes her encounters, a group of Kurdish emigrants making their way illegally across Europe towards England, and a French middle manager charged with relocating a factory from France to Hungary.

Very polished filmmaking from a technical standpoint, especially the cinematography and sound design. However, this lacked a cohesive throughline to link the three disparate stories together. Part commentary on the state of immigration regarding the European union and part voyeuristic gaze from the viewpoint of a constant traveler always in motion.

I think the filmmaker was too ambitious by trying to force a connection with these stories.  This approach unfortunately muddled the telling of the tale.