SALT Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Bradley Rust Gray Producer: So Yong Kim Writer: Bradley Rust Gray Director of Photography: Anne Misawa Cast: Brynja Thora Gudnadottir, David Orn Halldorsson, Melkorka Huldudottir Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

More 2003 LA Film Festival reviews.

Review by: Warren Curry
6/15/03

No matter how you slice it, Salt is a difficult film. Although not an official Dogme movie, the film's hand-held DV look and lack of plot elements obviously are influenced by that movement. Much like the bulk of Dogme films, Salt also has overt melodramatic leanings, yet ones that aren't as readily visible as in the work of, say, Lars von Trier. Salt is an oblique look at an understated adolescent crisis, stressing naturalism almost to the point of alienation. It's a tough film to digest to be certain, but there's a haunting quality to Bradley Rust Gray's movie that is inescapable.

Comprised of a cast of non-professional actors, Brynja Thora Gudnadottir plays Hildur, a young woman living in a middle-of-nowhere fishing village in Iceland. Hildur's life moves slowly, with each day providing a similar, and not unwelcome, routine. Hildur enjoys the small pleasures of living and working with her sister, Svava (Melkorka Huldudottir), until the sibling abruptly decides to move to Reykjavik.

This decision causes an upheaval in the lives of both Hildur and Svava's boyfriend, Aggi (David Orn Halldorsson). After being unable to convince Svava to stay, Hildur and Aggi set out on an impromptu trip to Reykjavik to be with her. They don't get very far before the journey is hindered by car problems, forcing the two to pitch a tent in a barren field next to the mechanic's shop who will fix the car once the weekend is over. It is here that Hildur and Aggi's friendship becomes strained due to their predicament, and also a romantic rustling that hints at emerging. Hildur's steps toward self-discovery take both an introspective and mythical turn.

The Dogme approach will always lend an emotional distance to the content of a film, and in Salt, that distance is so great that sometimes you feel as if you're on a different planet than the characters. This causes the occasional lapse in attention as sections of the film quietly pass by. Yet there is a discernible story progression, and in the character of Hildur, something very palpable to grasp onto, which prevents the film from dropping into a hopelessly abstract netherworld. An odd technique the director utilizes is to inexplicably shift the point of view from first-person to third-person. Some of the scenes of Hildur and Aggi's journey are shot from the perspective of the characters, who appear to be documenting their exploits with a home video camera. Then, the perspective will return to that of a more conventional narrative.

The actors express themselves with little emotion, and Gray is in command of the performances, knowing the limit of each cast member. The repetition of Hildur's life is captured with authenticity intact, and despite the natural beauty of the setting, Gray shoots the locations in a bland manner purposely void of overly exotic touches. The editing, typical of Dogme films, is suitably disjointed and straightforward.

Salt is a largely ethereal work that threatens a few times to drift away into an elusive universe of no return. However, it is director Gray's ability to reconcile his enigmatic tendencies with tangible concerns that makes Salt an intriguing effort free of the self-indulgent traces that usually spells doom for like-minded films.

(Screened at the 2003 Los Angeles Film Festival)

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