The Loneliest Planet (2011)

Directed by: Julia Loktev | 113 minutes | thriller | Actors: Hani Furstenberg, Gael Garcia Bernal, Bidzina Gujabidze

Julia Loktev’s second feature, a backpacking adventure set in rugged Georgia, is a free adaptation of Tim Bissell’s Expensive Trips Nowhere, a series of stories about rich Westerners traveling in a poor but beautiful part of the world.

The Lonely Planet is probably one of the most read books by people who just want to feel anything but lonely or alone. The collective desire to seek out ‘authentic’ places, connect with locals and find the best spots, places that no one knows but the thousands of other readers of the well-known guide, has barely made the planet a place where you can be alone. But if you are abandoned by your travel group, or discover that your great love is not what you expected: only then does loneliness strike well. This happens to the young couple Alex and Nica (played by the Mexican Gael García Bernal and the American/Israeli Hani Furstenberg). They plan to get married and travel through Georgia before then. Together with local guide Dato (strongly portrayed by amateur actor and professional mountaineer Bidzina Gujabidze), they explore the wild nature in the mountains of the Caucasus. They walk for hours on end, all the while enjoying the adventure, the rugged landscapes and each other. When a minor but very touching event puts a strain on relationships, the carefree trip turns into an uncomfortable and even threatening one.

Director of Russian/American descent Julia Loktev has done everything to make the story as subtle as possible. At times that feels unnatural, due to the deviation from the average in action and pace. At the same time, the story and the way the characters interact with each other is very recognisable, the events could come straight out of a typical backpacker trip. Maybe you would act like Alex or Nica.

While the three characters enjoy themselves in the first half of the film walking and occasionally singing a song or practicing Spanish verb conjugations, in the second half of the story they no longer know what to do with each other and themselves. should. The quiet atmosphere suddenly conveys something completely different and Alex no longer knows what to do with Nica’s need for help. The consequences of the small change in the story seem inevitable and again believable. The Georgian Bibzina Gujabidze in particular makes a big impression in the final scenes of the film.
The minimalistic game play and the extremely subtle plot make for a modest but beautiful film. Loktev has had a lot of help from the natural elements, which play a role not just as a staging, but practically as a fourth character. Without that impressive nature, the film would have simply remained meager instead of minimalist.