Ovid.tv Presents NO LIGHT AND NO LAND ANYWHERE Review – Weighty Tale, Inspired Camerawork

Posted on by Amy Munice

Editor’s Note: Find more OVID.tv film reviews here.

Sunny California streams in the budget hotel window—cut—now neon lit night time city scape…

 Scarcely clad on the floor – cut-- now fetal curled in the corner…

 She scans the cancer meds of her father’s second wife—cut— she patiently helps the dying woman out of her diapers and into new ones…

 Like the protagonist’s small suitcase carrying just a few items from London to LA, there seems to be not an ounce of fat in this tightly told weighty tale.  Image one cuts to image two—conveying silently what otherwise might require many multiples of words to tell the story.

We first meet Lexi (Gemma Brockis) as she leaves LAX. She’s left a troubled life behind.  She seeks the father who abandoned her when she was but 3 years old.  From a last known address to fresher leads, we travel with Lexi on the paths of rock bottom where this childhood abandonment has apparently left her.  Most likely have never known anyone quite like Lexi—a fact of which her straw ends on black uncombed bob hairdo ever reminds.

Most of us though, have had at least a fleeting taste of the fruits grown on the terrain she dwells in at some point in our lives.  This is an emotional landscape populated with self-loathing, terror of abandonment and most of all, a deep hunger for connection, that ever drives the plot turns.  SPOILER ALERT:  When she finally meets that long lost father  (Richard Sealey) , this writer felt we could look into his eyes and see in an instant how he telegraphs to the world not to expect anything from him, other than coming up empty.  Great acting! Even the so-called bit players in minor roles are so real that we feel we are in the same room.

The Camera Tells Most of the Story in NO LIGHT AND NO LAND ANYWHERE

In this reviewer’s opinion, the top notch actors in this film get the gift of inspired camerawork and film editing that multiplies the power of their performance on the screen several fold ( Cinematography: Catherine Goldschmidt; Editor: Patrick Nelson Barnes).  It’s a minimalist style of storytelling by camera, and it more than works (Director: Amber Sealey).

This is a top pick film for anyone who especially appreciates superlative minimalist-style cinematography.  If you like slice of life films that slice into deep emotional depths, and especially deep slices of life you haven’t known so intimately before, this is also a good match for your time.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Read the OVID.tv webpage about NO LIGHT AND NO LAND ANYWHERE.

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Images courtesy of Ovid.tv

Amy Munice

About the Author: Amy Munice

Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.

Amy hopes the magazine’s click-a-picture-to-read-a-vivid-account format will nourish those ever hunting for under-discovered cultural treasures. She especially loves writing articles about travel finds, showcasing works by cultural warriors of a progressive bent, and shining a light on bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.

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