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, Wendell Pierce

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:

cigarette smoking | watching tv | vietnam war | borax | terrorist | 

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Manga Films [Spain] Océan Films [France]

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2004 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Angst and Alienation in America

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

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

This was Gloria Stuart's final acting role before her death on September 26, 2010 at the age of 100.

---

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 The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

---

Soundtracks

The Star-Spangled Banner
Music by John Stafford Smith
Performed by Hub Moore
Courtesy of Hub Moore

User Reviews

This is just too painful to watch.

This is a sort of anti-Wenders film. While most of his films are uplifting, beautiful and spiritual, _Land of Plenty_ is a brutal and unpleasant exposé of American paranoia. It's very well done, and it's frighteningly accurate. Still, I can't imagine any Americans will enjoy watching it.

If you're in denial, then you will be offended by this movie (like most of the negative reviewers here). So don't bother.

If you're familiar with the paranoia and bigotry that has enveloped this country then this movie will upset you, just as if you had a big wart on your nose, and someone made a film about it. So don't bother.

I believe the only people who could possibly enjoy this film are objective (non-American) viewers who do not feel the shame that this movie exposes.

I'm rating this film an 8 because it was well done, but I can't recommend it to anyone. It was just too excruciating for me (as it should be for all Americans who share the burden of what our country has turned into). Another film which falls into this category is _House of Sand and Fog_ which one critic called "the feel-bad movie of the year".

This movie made me feel like crap. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch _Lisbon Story_ 1000 times and try to recover from this.