SECOND LOOK REVIEW: LIVE FROM KARLOVY VARY
The cowboy hat is permanently attached to his head, just as a sad and empty expression is always printed on his face. Dusty (played convincingly by British actor Josh O’Conner, with a Western American country accent et al) is the father of serious and determined Callie-Rose (in a very strong performance by the small child actor Lily LaRose). He is tasked with looking after his daughter for a few days, and so he brings her to the closely-knit and profoundly impoverished caravan community in which he lives. The story takes place in the semiarid plains of the director’s native Colorado.
Callie-Rose is disappointed to find out that there is no internet in the area, and that the nearest wifi is at an old library with very limited working hours. Some of the residents don’t even have a computer. Dusty separated Rose’s mother Ruby (Meghann Fahy) after a forest fire destroyed their house. She lives comfortably with her mother Bess (Amy Madigan) in a house firmly attached to the ground. Spending time in the middle of nowhere without a mobile connection and with her listless – if caring – father is hardly exciting for a little child. Nevertheless, the little girl manages to brighten things up. Quite literally even: she cover daddy’s trailer is glow-in-the-dark stars, with a helping of her new friend Lucy, a cheerful girl of roughly the same age.
Comparisons to Choe Zhao’s Best Picture Oscar-winner Nomadland (2020) are inevitable: the caravan community consists mostly of old people failed by the system. On the other hand, Rebuilding does not offer a stinging criticism of the gig economy. In fact, it does not possess any major socio-political ambitions. It is never clear why the other residents joined the four-wheeled community. I doubt that these people – unlike in Zhao’s movie – are played by real “nomads”. Max Walker-Silverman’s sophomore feature (after 2022’s A Love Song) is far less documental piece of filmmaking. Instead, it is firmly rooted in psychological drama territory.
The exact origin of the fire that devastated Dusty’s life is never revealed. On the other hand, it is clear that such tragedies take place routinely in such a hot and dry environment, and that it is just a question of time before another wildfire claims any new house Dusty may build. This raises a number of questions: what is the purpose of a community? Is man permanently subject to the wrath and the whims of nature? Should family relations remain vulnerable to unpredictable phenomena? Or should our allegiances remain in plkace come rain or shine?
This is quiet, warm and very conventional little film. The message of resistance and hope in the individual’s capacity of regeneration is a positive one, if all-too-familiar. Just like a forest burnt to the ground, human beings too have the ability to rise from the ashes.
Rebuilding is in the Crystal Globe section of the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It premiered originally at Sundance earlier this year, when it was reviewed by Lida Bach.
