Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SILENT LAND [Toronto International Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]

The aspect of consequence and memory or, at least perception, takes a center seat in "Silent Land" [Platform]. A polish couple rent a seaside house in Sardinia just trying to get away. They are not imposing people, simply apt to live their lives. They are young and good looking but seemingly going though the paces of their lives, whether it be at the beach, having breakfast or with lovemaking. It comes as no surprise that wwhen a tragic event comes into play (as ironic as it is) they cannot give a correct perception of why they did what they did...or even when (in a way). The aspect that continues to swirl in the film in this way is expected behavior, wanted behavior or simply correct reasoning. This is mostly aptly balanced in a couple who run a diving business, whom they befriend or are just thrown together with. The metaphors used in some of their actions and stories reflect basically what they can't control but the Polish couple can never get to that point. At one point, the Polish female, like Cher in "Moonstruck (but without the comedy), tells her partner to "snap out of it" but he is too lost in his own head to speak about what that means or how to relate at all. The words "selfish" in terms of survival take on a tone of would-be comeuppance but only lies there to simmer as a dread which is obvious apropos.

The texture of water in its different forms takes on a different meaning as well. It has nothing to do with rebirth or context but everything to do with fear and the unknown. The director (Aga Woszczyńska) tries to pepper in a little bit of humor and sardonic elements in the police station and with the owner of the villa to overset the more monotone (obviously deliberate) delivery of the lead couple. When one of them lies, the response of "I don't know" lies there not requiring an explanation but rather is used as a badge of texture. The husband does have his own abstract of dream sequences and fever dreams which are fairly straightforward but oddly enough we do not see the female in the reverse which would have given an interesting (and needed) counterbalance. As the movie reaches ts conclusion is nt so much what they can control or what they can accept but more what they can live with in the progression, however normal of their daily lives. B-

By Tim Wassberg