Tideland (DVD)

Much as I love Terry Gilliam as a filmmaker, and surely do welcome a personal introduction by him on any DVD, I found it a bit sad that he seemed to be apologizing for Tideland before I even got to see the first frame. Much as I wanted to, I did not catch the film when it was in theaters. Not because of the (mostly) atrocious reviews, but simply because I couldn’t find it playing anywhere. Critics were not invited to any media screenings, junkets, or premieres. The long-on-the-shelf film came and went, quietly.

Why all the under-the-radar hubbub? Because, I suppose, it’s about a little girl raised by junkies. There’s a revolting embalming scene. There’s a whiff of molestation. And lots of insanity. It’s not a pretty ponies-and-lollipops movie, but really… what did moviegoers expect from the subversive, shopworn auteur? Even The Brothers Grimm, possibly his most commercial movie to date was awfully dark. (Which, by the way, I liked in spite of the Weinstein’s wrangling… I saw the glimmers of Gilliam in it clearly enough.)

Tideland, somewhat of a heroin-steeped Alice in Wonderland, stars Jodelle Ferland as Jeliza Rose, the 10-year-old daughter of the slovenly Gunhilda (Jennifer Tilly) and washed-up, once-was rock star, Noah (Jeff Bridges). To her innocent, face-value child’s eyes, her life is normal: fixing up her dad’s shot of heroin and rubbing her mom’s track-marked, purple-splotched feet are all just part of the everyday. Until one day, everything changes…

Jeliza Rose, orphaned and alone in the remote prairie home of her long-gone grandmother,  is forced to live a world of fantasy where her only companions are wild squirrels running amuck in the attic, and four disembodied dolls’ head to whom she’s given names and personalities. Her solitude does not last long, however… as a corpse rots inside the tattered shack she’s been forced to call home, outside a pair of villainous strangers, who are all too fresh, hunger for Jeliza Rose.

You might find the story of the endangered child sick, exploitive and distasteful, or you might find it sad, twisted, and strangely hopeful. I can see where some might find feel there’s malice in this wonderland, but as a true Gilliam fan through thick and thin, I (perhaps needless to say), fall headlong into the latter category. No matter what you might think of the subject matter, there is no doubt the movie is brilliantly directed, beautifully photographed, and intensely acted.

Thanks to THINKfilm, Tideland’s DVD presentation is on not one, but two loaded disks. The first disk contains the movie, plus compelling and insightful commentary from the director. The second disk is made for his fans (casual and serious alike). The main feature is the 45-minute documentary, Getting Gilliam, directed and narrated by Vincenzo Natali (a brilliant auteur in his own right, having given us Cube, and Nothing). Here, we have a fly-on-the-corpse look inside the making of Tideland, from inception to post-production. In addition, there are some other making-of featurettes, interviews with the cast and crew, and much more.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson