When the language collapses, at some point, sex, extreme violence and instincts take over. I saw this very interesting experimental film at the Goteborg Film Fest. The movie has been a blistering assault on one's senses, crude and unusual.

The film is divided in different chapters. These stories take place in a road trip and each story follows the trail of a couple (I guess). In each story there's an element of the macabre and super-natural. In the words of Barston, the bounty hunter who narrates throughout Badlands: "They are places where sensible men never venture...where phantoms walk...way-stations somewhere smack between civilization and the Ninth Circle 'A Hell".

The film zooms in on the strange relationship between the two characters in a deliberately slow observation. Enigmatic and grotesque. They exchange no words.

This is a silent movie, with cold and violent sounds filling up the missed narration. Unquestionably, this film is unlike any film ever seen, and it definitely belong to the Art scene, more then cinema.. but I like this communion. I counted at list five long takes dedicated to landscapes, like giant animals resting in peace. The movie quietly integrates the five elements of nature to create a singular connection between them.

The last scene arrives like an explosion of repression, grotesque like the animals found on the road..

In one of the long shots we are shown the image of the sea as seen from a hill. We are drawn into the horizontal waves that decorate the widescreen in the form of broad white lines. Gradually, we have people walking across in front of us and guttural noises from seals, almost consumed by insects. The dynamics of the foreground, though initially attractive, feel like clockwork after a while.

A movie of seemingly limpid transparency and tremendous, understated compassion.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The Western genre features stories set primarily in the 19th-century American Old West and often depict the rugged frontier life, exploring themes of individualism, justice, morality, and the clash between civilization and the untamed wilderness. The genre has its roots in the historical context of westward expansion and the challenges faced by pioneers, settlers, outlaws, and lawmen.

John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)

Devil Come to Hell and Stay Where You Belong

Devil Come to Hell and Stay Where You Belong (2008)

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Devil Come to Hell and Stay Where You Belong

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