Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

huh_oh_i_c Perhaps the most significant thing about this film is the majority of the critical reception in America: While objectively speaking the film is not very critical of America, while it is one of the most balanced 9/11 films, it has been treated like the plague. This indicates the heavy self-censorship American media have imposed on themselves and ... reflects John Diels character Uncle Pauls paranoia nicely. Accurately. From the book "Vernon God Little" to "Land of Plenty", American reviewers, pundits, and 'intellectuals' are as sensitive as an eyeball to sand towards foreign commentary and critique of their society.I downloaded this movie by accident, looking for the similarly titled BBC drama "In a Land of Plenty". Upon seeing that Michelle Williams was in it, I decided not to delete it right away. Halfway through the pic I thought to look it up here, and learned then that Wim Wenders was directing it. And now you'll expect me to say that it was one these serendipitously great finds, a gem unknown, a great movie. Hmmm I can't, since I thought the film a tat too depressing for that.The character of Uncle Paul is all too paranoid, too realistic for my taste. I really don't think that this character is grossly distorted. The greatness about this character is threefold: a) As a viewer you're left unsure whether he's really mentally ill or not, b) he's surely representative of a part of the American population (hopefully not a large part, but I fear yes) and c) he's been greatly portrayed by Diehl. I detest him as much as J.R. Ewing was detested.As Europeans, we are used to think of Americans/Republicans as the winners, who despite their lack of intelligence, still manage to rule the world/the USA, who are winning because they all (more or less) have the white picket fence thing going on. This movie shows that not all right-wingers are indeed winners, that there are very sad and depressing people among them. It hits home that Po' White Trash is not a thing of the past. I mean, DUDE! This guy is a sad, sad figure.Of course the character of Lana is much more appealing and attractive, and I watched Michelle with open mouth every time she graced the screen with her deceptively natural acting.The only criticism I have of the film is in its end dialog: Paul asks why people cheered on 9/11. When Lana says "Because they hate us" it isn't made clear why the world hates America. Wenders either chickens out or loves his adopted country too much. Or, maybe he does indeed see both sides. The people of the world hate America, because Americans always side with the dictators and the oppressors: Pinochet, Videla of Argentina, the Israelis (and not with the Jews: in WWII they denied several Jewish requests for the bombing of concentration camps), Mubarak, Marcos of the Philipines, Apartheid etc. Aside from one time when it didn't, in Kosovo, Americans have always sided with torturing dictators to oppress the poor. We don't hate you because of your freedom. If we did that, we all attack Sweden and Holland. Smoke out Amsterdam (pun intended). We hate you because you could help us win our freedom with relative ease, but you choose not do so. Because otherwise you have to pay 2 cents more on the gallon for gasoline, god forbid!!

Claudio Carvalho The American daughter of missionaries Lana (Michelle Williams) returns to Los Angeles from Palestine to work in a mission helping homeless people. Lana was born in Ohio and raised in South Africa and Middle East, and she is an authentic citizen of the world, connected through Internet and aware of how other people see the lack of culture and knowledge and exaggerated patriotism of average American people. Her unique relative is her unknown uncle Paul (John Diehl), a veteran of Vietnam War that cut relationships with his family and is bigot and paranoid. Paul lives in a surveillance van, lives as if he were a secret agent, sees conspiracy and terrorist cells everywhere, and has a great prejudice against Arabs and other non-American breeds after the September, 11th. They meet each other, and when they see the murder of a poor Pakistanis nearby the mission, they travel together to the small town of Trone to deliver his corpse to the family, where Paul sees a different reality."Land of Plenty" is a very well acted low budget movie, with great performances of Michelle Williams and John Diehl. Wim Wenders tries to picture the reality of North America unknown for foreigners and even common Americans, with homeless and alienated people living with fear, angst and prejudice, totally disconnected of the world, instead of the land of opportunities and plenty of the American Dream shown in most of the American movies. In this regard, he is very well succeeded, but in my opinion I found the character of Paul absolutely exaggerated, using many apparatuses and gadgets in his "work". The beautiful and shining character of Michelle Williams gives the hope that the world can be a better place someday. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Medo e Obsessão" ("Fear and Obsession")

Locoloko Watching "Der himmel über Berlin" as a teen in the late 80's was a profound experience for me - "so this was what the movies could be". Along with "Paris, Texas" and "Until the End of the World" it still holds a special place in my heart and mind - a testament to the genius of Wim Wenders.Unfortunately later years has seen a steady decline in the quality of his work with "Million Dollar Hotel" and "Land of Plenty" hitting a terrible low point. Gone are the captivating pictures or music. No search for or display of great insight. All that is left are characters and thinly veiled political statements, that boils down to nothing but clichés, and quite frankly mock the intelligence of a mature audience.Has the well run dry? Whatever the reason, it's time for Mr. Wenders to either step it up or stop altogether.

Harry T. Yung The alternative angle is looking at this movie as a study of the two main characters and their interaction. The other, obvious angle of a post-911 political statement has provoked heated exchanges in the IMDb comments, to which I would just quote the winner of the recently voted top 100 movie quotes.Despite the initial impression created by the movie makers, there isn't really that much of a story. What we have instead in the convergence (not collision) of two sharply polarized characters. 20-year-old Lana who returns to her native United States after a life in Israel since early childhood is as close to an angel as you can get. Her uncle (mother's brother) Paul, a Vietnam veteran and Agent Orange victim is not the devil. He is not even the average lunatic war hawk you might expect. For someone with his background, he appears to be in his full senses even in the paranoid-ridden surveillance exercise that has consumed his every waking (and sometimes even sleeping) thought. The interaction between these two characters and how they affect each others' thinking is the soul of the movie, the way I choose to watch it. Michelle Williams and John Diehl are marvelous.