Tideland - Movie Review

** WARNING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS **

Over the weekend I finally had time to take in Terry Gilliam's latest offering, Tideland. I've always admired Gilliam's work because he takes chances with his film making and creates movies that visual impressive and thought provoking at the same time.

Tideland fits this mold quite well and is perhaps his best work. Even a couple days after watching this movie, I'm not sure I have a full grasp on what I watched. The movie touch on so many emotions it left me puzzled. At times the fantasy story made me smile and laugh but there were just as many scenes that left me with a disgusted and horrified feeling.

The story focuses around a young girl, Jeliza-Rose, played by Jodelle Ferland. This young girl has quite an active imagination and counts among her friends several bodiless dolls. Her fantasy world serves as crutch because her real-life world is such a mess. Both of her parents (Jeff Bridges & Jennifer Tilly) are heroin addicts. Because her parents are hardly attached to reality to begin with, Jeliza-Rose barely notices when they both end up dead.

Before dying her father takes her to a broken down house he once called home. Jeliza-Rose sets off to explore her surroundings and encounters characters who are scary and innocent at the same time. Desperate for a real friend, Jeliza-Rose latches on to epileptic man-child and forms one of the strangest relationships ever seen on screen. It is this relationship which becomes the guiding principle for the remainder of the film. At times it plays out in a friendly manner with each "child" simply having fun. At other times it becomes quite uncomfortable as a weird sexual tension develops between Jeliza-Rose and the "man".

Following the fantasy through to the end, the movie culminates with a scene that is both disturbing, happy and sad all at the same time. Through it all Jeliza-Rose appears unaffected and this is were I think the main point lies. As adults we see things much differently than children and because of it events affect us in much more dramatic ways. But children take events more in stride and simply go on living. As adults we try to teach our children well but perhaps it is also important for adults to learn a few lessons from children.

This isn't a film for everyone. I'd have a hard time recommending to all but a few select friends because the subject matter and the execution is so far from mainstream cinema. However, for those who like thought provoking movies, can handle some disturbing themes and don't mind finishing a movie without all the answers, I highly recommend Tideland. In my perfect world we see more directors take the sort of chances Gilliam took in making this film. I look forward to his next work.