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Colombia, France, Netherlands · 2015
1h 37m
Director César Augusto Acevedo
Starring Haimer Leal, Hilda Ruiz, Edison Raigosa, Marleyda Soto
Genre Drama
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Alfonso is an old farmer who has returned home to tend to his son, who is gravely ill. Upon revisiting his old house, where his estranged wife, daughter-in-law and grandson live, he discovers that the landscape is almost unlivable. He makes it his duty to remediate the situations---of both the landscape and his family.
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.
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
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.
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
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.
Screen International by Fionnuala Halligan
Arcevedo is certainly as preoccupied with image as he is content and it is perhaps the individual frames and tableaux which linger on past this resolutely-downbeat, emblematic story.
This lack of visual energy, combined with the choice to forgo a score, leaves little to buoy the moments needed to propel the film toward its inevitable close. But where Land And Shade shines is in its outrage, and the heartbroken fury at the center of the film.
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
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.
Village Voice by Michael Nordine
You might not want to live here, but the imagery makes for a nice postcard.
The Film Stage by Michael Snydel
It’s a film that’s feels nearly otherworldly in its isolation.
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.
While mirthless in the extreme, Cesar Acevedo’s deliberately paced and distant-feeling debut works its way under audiences’ skin, weaving a haunting allegory through painterly compositions.
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