Going Off to Jutland

“Daddy’s gonna stroll down that far subterranean shore, all littered with the flotsam of hopes and dreams. Relics of ancient times. Lonely cenotaphs. Standing along that melancholy tideland.”- Noah, Tideland (Film) 2005

“Before sleep, the last sound to fill my ears was the beating of my heart, and I knew I was slipping past the tideland, going beneath the ocean and sinking away from What Rocks.”

-Jeliza Rose, Tideland (Novel) Mitch Cullin, 2000

When friend and fellow Monty Python member Micheal Palin saw a rough cut of Terry Gilliam’s Tideland, he told his long time friend, “This is either the best or the worst thing you’ve ever done. I can’t tell.” Terry Gilliam has said often in interviews and even in an introduction to the film, that not everyone will like his film and that in fact, many people will hate the film. My first reaction to the film was one of horror. I was depressed by its length and overall message, as well as the way it looked. But recently, I watched the film again, and it was like seeing it for the first time. I wanted more than its two hour running length, I saw the beauty and innocence played against a scary world, and it’s beautiful, rich colors and jarring contrasts made for a unique looking film.

An homage to Alice in Wonderland, a sort of southern gothic take on the whole story, Tideland begins with the family situation of Jeliza Rose ( pre- Silent Hill Jodelle Ferdinand). Both her parents are washed up drug addicts, with her father, Noah (Jeff Bridges) being something of musician that found fame some time somewhere. He is obsessed with the Jutland Peninsula (complete with a map and a book about the customs and interesting facts of the place, including an obsession with “Bog-Men”), and is seen waking his daughter up in the middle of the night to tell her stories about the place. Her mother, (Jennifer Tilly) never named, is an overweight junkie who both loves and hates her daughter. When she dies one night following an overdose, Noah grabs Jeliza and takes her to his childhood home, What Rocks farm, out in the middle of nowhere Texas. They find it abandoned, with Noah’s mother having passed many years ago. Soon, he too succumbs to his addiction, leaving Jeliza in an abandoned farmhouse with no food or water, and a fresh corpse to boot. She starts to create a world made up of her Barbie doll heads that are her only friends, and fears of the Bog Men. Her explorations of the area have her stumble upon her neighbors, the paranoid and frightening Dell and her simple brother Dickens. And this is where the movie gets really strange.

Tideland is the culmination of all of Terry Gilliam’s work. It’s surreal, strange, innocent, corrupt, and oddly enough, well grounded. The obvious parallels against Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland are not hidden or ignored, but rather played to. The whole movie is a twisted version of Wonderland, only influenced by the imaginations of those around. Each person adds their own spin, mutating it until it becomes something far scarier and more sinister than it was before. Tideland plays like a bloodless horror fairy tale, combining the fears of childhood with the horror that is adulthood. The elements of fear and the elements of fantasy intermingle until telling them apart is impossible. If you are familiar with Gilliam’s work, this film is by far his most perfect film.

The acting in the film is phenomenal as well. Jodelle Ferdinand is capable of being a little child while also carrying around with her a wise look in her eyes. Jeff Bridges plays a corpse beautifully, and Janet McTeer is frightening as the religious and insanely strict Dell, but arguably the best actor in the bunch is Brendan Fletcher playing Dickens. His performance alone elevates the film to an even higher shelf. He becomes the emotional lynchpin of the story, helping Jeliza delve deeper into her fantasy world and capturing the spirit of innocence and youth that is slowly leaving her as she grows and sees the world.

Tideland is a strong film full of images and moments that challenge the viewer, while captivating and holding them in full attention. The story feels complete, the pacing perfect, and the script heavy but exciting. In the future, a film like Tideland will be the cinematic legacy that has been left behind by a great film maker.

by Henri Cheramie

~ by themissingink on June 26, 2009.