The New Wild: Life in the Abandoned Lands

Christopher Thomson’s essay film examines the strange new landscapes that are slowly appearing across Europe. With the decline of rural populations, lands are being reclaimed by the nature which was once displayed by them. Trees grow amongst the ruins, animals run across landscapes once dominated by humans. Nature has returned to reclaim what was taken from her in the past.The "New Wild" focuses on a village on the edge of collapse, stranded in an abandoned alpine valley. As it attempts to survive economic, demographic and cultural implosion, the film reflects on humankind’s changing relationship with the natural world and how places that were once the height of modernity are becoming consigned to our history books.With echoes of the likes of Michelangelo Frammartino, the film is a measured and reflective piece of work that is resplendent in displaying a natural world that is both beautiful yet slightly terrifying in its refusal to be tamed by human endeavour. Thomson creates beautiful tableaux of a forgotten world while mention must also be made of some wondrous sound design that takes in a contemplative voice over that ruminates on many complex issues as well as the serene sounds of nature.An astonishing cinematic experience, "The New Wild" unearths and preserves a world that is slowly sliding away whilst making us wonder just how permanent our way of life really is.

(Laurence Boyce)