Land and Shade

Name: Land and Shade
Genre: Drama
Released: June 17, 2016
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 74

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Land And Shade

Now Playing: Land And Shade

Movie Details & Credits

Outsider Pictures | Release Date: June 17, 2016 | Not Rated

Summary: Alfonso is an old farmer who has returned home to tend to his son, who is gravely ill. He rediscovers his old house, where the woman who was once his wife still lives, with his daughter-in-law and grandson. The landscape that awaits him resembles a wasteland. Vast sugar cane plantations surround the house, producing perpetual clouds of ash.Alfonso is an old farmer who has returned home to tend to his son, who is gravely ill. He rediscovers his old house, where the woman who was once his wife still lives, with his daughter-in-law and grandson. The landscape that awaits him resembles a wasteland. Vast sugar cane plantations surround the house, producing perpetual clouds of ash. 17 years after abandoning them, Alfonso tries to fit back in and save his family.… Expand

Director: César Augusto Acevedo

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 97 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

The Film Stage Michael Snydel

Jun 22, 2016

It’s a film that’s feels nearly otherworldly in its isolation. Read full review

Diego Semerene

Jun 16, 2016

The landscape seems to push the characters away at the same time that it anchors them into place, suggesting that elsewhere is a promise that only dreams can keep. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Mark Dujsik

Jun 17, 2016

A film of uncommon restraint and considerable compassion. It presents a seemingly helpless situation and focuses on the tiny, fleeting moments of regret, resentment, reconciliation, hope, loyalty and love within and between these characters. Read full review

Noel Murray

Jun 15, 2016

Land And Shade is a slow-paced art-film, where the static shots are held at length and the characters pause between lines of dialogue, to give viewers plenty of chances to register the mood, look, feel, and significance of everything Acevedo shows. Read full review

Michael Nordine

Jun 15, 2016

You might not want to live here, but the imagery makes for a nice postcard. Read full review

Jordan Mintzer

May 26, 2015

Acevedo deserves credit for crafting something so audacious – along with the photography, the sound design by Felipe Rayo is also boldly conceived – though there are moments when the style really dominates the subject matter, in a film that’s a pleasure to watch but not always one to follow. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Jun 16, 2016

In Land and Shade, the setting holds more interest than the plot: a fable-like, elemental story that sketches its characters too faintly to develop much power. Read full review

SEE ALL 11 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Negative:

User Reviews

LeZee

May 16, 2017

Not far from losing the birthplace of human civilisation.

Not everybody's pick of the year. Everybody does not know this film even exist. This is the director's ambitious project, to depict on the screen the world he had come from. So it is much an awareness film about struggling ruralNot far from losing the birthplace of human civilisation.

Not everybody's pick of the year. Everybody does not know this film even exist. This is the director's ambitious project, to depict on the screen the world he had come from. So it is much an awareness film about struggling rural society. Usually critics favour this kind of film. But not to be watched for the entertainment purpose. Surely you will be bored to death. This is a challenging film to watch that tests your patience. Even I had a slight trouble finish watching it, but at the end I'm satisfied for it is what it is.

Average film's runtime, so if you have been focused since the beginning, particularly without any interference, then that's good. You will get the characters and their condition, which is most important in this film. There's no complication to understand it. It is a simple story, but very realistic portrayal like a documentary film without any background commentary. Centres on the falling rural economy and how people are coping with it. I think this is a very essential film for todays people from big cities to understand the situation of the other side of the human civilisation.

The film does not focus on entire village, but follows a small family. It is a place where they all depended on the sugar cane that grown in the field. And it is about a harvest season, everybody's working hard, but not paid enough for their effort. A man who had left the place and family behind a long ago returns. The purpose of the visit is his son who is very sick. So from his perspective the film reveals why he had left the place and the trouble the villagers facing, economically as well as environmentally.

❝I couldn't stay here and see all of this disappear before my very eyes.❞

The message was loud and clear. The film does not simply shows sympathy, but falling apart countryside due to multiple issues including poverty and pollution. There's no separately layered narration to highlight them, but the family this story is based on revolves around most of those matters. I would say, it was a good writing, keeping in order and going after big topic. The director did a wonderful job. I would also say watching a film like this is definitely not a waste of time. But how far it reaches and people come to realise will be a big question. Because such small films are easily ignored globally.

When we discuss about harming the environment, it is always cities and industries are blamed. But the truth is every corner of the earth where humans have settled down is causing the disruption in the order of nature. This film is one of the good examples of getting rid of cliché in such theme and trying to be honest. The amount of disturbance in nature might be less, but the outcome is the same. I think such film should be recognised in the bigger platforms. This is the age we live in where awareness needed about the awareness films. What we have become.

A heartbreaking family tale, as well as their concerned environment, the film covered two topics so brilliantly. Well performed actors and I liked the locations. Even though the places are polluted, especially during the harvest, such quietness is very relaxing. I do remember in my childhood during visiting grandparents in their village, sitting lazily after having a lunch under the shades of a tree on a hot summer day was so cool experience. Now we're losing that, and I think that's the closest what this title means. The final frontier, the edge of world where humans and nature meets. Like I said the film is not for everyone, watching capacity wise, but its concern everybody. If you are okay with slow pace narration, then you should try it.

7/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS