Land of Plenty (2004)

A drama that investigates anxiety and disillusionment in America.

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Wim Wenders (story), Scott Derrickson (story),

Stars:

Michelle Williams, John Diehl, Shaun Toub

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Williams	...	Lana
John Diehl	...	Paul
Shaun Toub	...	Hassan
Wendell Pierce	...	Henry
Richard Edson	...	Jimmy
Burt Young	...	Sherman
Yuri Elvin	...	Officer Elvin (as Yuri Z. Elvin)
Jeris Poindexter	...	Charles (as Jeris Lee Poindexter)
Rhonda Stubbins White	...	Dee Dee
Victoria Thomas	...	News Reporter
Matthew Kimbrough	...	News Anchor
Paul West	...	Policeman
Jeffrey Vincent Parise	...	Coroner's Assistant (as Jeff Parise)
Christa Lang	...	Trailer Park Woman
Warren Stearns	...	Mortician

Storyline

The American daughter of missionaries Lana 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, 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

vietnam war | terrorist | borax | africa | palestine | 

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Details

Official Sites:

Manga Films [es] Océan Films [fr]

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2004 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Angst and Alienation in America

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$3,842 (Hong Kong) (1 July 2005)

Gross:

$3,842 (Hong Kong) (1 July 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emotion Pictures, InDigEnt (Independent Digital Entertainment), Reverse Angle International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lana and Paul are talking on the roof, a sign can be seen in the distance reading "The New Million Dollar Hotel" (ref. Wim Wenders' film The Million Dollar Hotel where the roof scenes are very important).

---

Goofs

When Henry picks Lana up from the airport, a member of the crew is visible in the rear window of his pickup truck, holding a bounce board to reflect light on the actors.

---

Quotes

Paul: They're trying to destroy our country. They're trying to infect us. I'm not going to let them.

---

Connections

References 21 Grams (2003)

---

Soundtracks

"The Sound of My Life"
Written by Thom (as Thomas Hanreich) and Nackt (as Patrick Christensen)
Performed by Thom
Courtesy of Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment (Germany) GmbH & Co. KG
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

An insight into American fears and hopes ...

A must-see for anyone who is either a Wim Wenders fan or a person interested in the fears and hopes of contemporary America. German director in a brilliant way makes us ponder upon all the issues so essential to understanding American reality after 9/11. Ethnic prejudices, stereotypes, homelessness,terrorism, Vietnam war, pursuit for an identity, search for lost relatives - all these components are omnipresent, smoothly woven. Wenders mastery reveals in the fact that he manages to touch upon serious topics and in the same time introduce elements of humor and even grotesque.

"Land of plenty" leaves us with the voice of Leonard Cohen and plenty of thoughts about relation between individual and contemporary world.