Before 1999 John Sayles had already brought himself into fame as one of the biggest names in Independent filmmaking. He has found his niche in writing for the screen and directing, yet he receives mediocre attention to what density his films carry. My all-time favorite film, Matewan (1987), is also by Sayles, and in Limbo, he has done something incredible bringing us a true-to-heart narrative in a small Alaskan town.
From the first moments of picture; of salmon restlessly waiting to find a place to go, until the heart-throbbing and hard-hitting ending we examine sub texts between the characters and their past. While the beginning may take a bit to set up shop on where Sayles exactly plans to take us, he does it methodically weaving dialog in and out of shots; interlocking sentence after sentence between different characters while at the same time making a point.
The Alaskan wilderness is a perfect setting because nature is unpredictable and Juneau (among other places) is one of the few areas in which all roads lead to virtually nowhere. Meanwhile, Sayles is just prepping us to realize we too as viewers of this narrative, are in Limbo. David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Vanessa Martinez deliver wonderful performances that from the beginning reveal their character's interesting pasts. Strathairn seems lost ever since a boating accident that took two friends, and has never gone fishing since while Mastrantonio is a club singer constantly on the move to find a living and a place to keep her and her daughter happy. And finally Martinez is the confused teenager also lost for who she may be and where she belongs. She has a drifting relationship with her mother (Mastrantonio) and finds comfort when talking to Strathairn's character at work.
When the three are kept on an Alaskan island with nothing but the clothes on their back, a new element is subtly brought in when Martinez finds a long lost diary of a stranger. She begins reading passages by night as we delve into another world; a lost perspective that is incredibly poetic and raw with emotion.
As the backdrop strengthens we are soon deep into Sayles' fantastically created narrative. We think we know where the story is going, but right when you think you know the answer Sayles takes us in the complete opposite direction. It is unconventional storytelling and a film that brings us one of the greatest endings in cinema history.
From the first moments of picture; of salmon restlessly waiting to find a place to go, until the heart-throbbing and hard-hitting ending we examine sub texts between the characters and their past. While the beginning may take a bit to set up shop on where Sayles exactly plans to take us, he does it methodically weaving dialog in and out of shots; interlocking sentence after sentence between different characters while at the same time making a point.
The Alaskan wilderness is a perfect setting because nature is unpredictable and Juneau (among other places) is one of the few areas in which all roads lead to virtually nowhere. Meanwhile, Sayles is just prepping us to realize we too as viewers of this narrative, are in Limbo. David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Vanessa Martinez deliver wonderful performances that from the beginning reveal their character's interesting pasts. Strathairn seems lost ever since a boating accident that took two friends, and has never gone fishing since while Mastrantonio is a club singer constantly on the move to find a living and a place to keep her and her daughter happy. And finally Martinez is the confused teenager also lost for who she may be and where she belongs. She has a drifting relationship with her mother (Mastrantonio) and finds comfort when talking to Strathairn's character at work.
When the three are kept on an Alaskan island with nothing but the clothes on their back, a new element is subtly brought in when Martinez finds a long lost diary of a stranger. She begins reading passages by night as we delve into another world; a lost perspective that is incredibly poetic and raw with emotion.
As the backdrop strengthens we are soon deep into Sayles' fantastically created narrative. We think we know where the story is going, but right when you think you know the answer Sayles takes us in the complete opposite direction. It is unconventional storytelling and a film that brings us one of the greatest endings in cinema history.