Extra Cred: Beyond the Road by Alexandr Beran

Beyond the Road is an independent film directed by Charly Braun and features a young Argentinian, Santiago, who travels back to Montevideo to see about some land his late folks have left him. Rather than drive directly to his destination, he picks up a Belgian girl, Juliette, pulling a suitcase over a beach road and offers to giver her a ride. We learn that Juliette is on route to visit an Uruguayan commune leader she'd met in Costa Rica, as she has fallen in love with him, but along the way her and Santiago establish a dynamic relationship on the foundation of their English and love for bohemian experiences.

South American locations are beautifully realized and help to bolster the bond the two form. A feral dog follows the pair along a littered beach and they swoon at its antics together, of which establishes their wonder for the world. This film makes great use of beasts; they enter and exit the frame showcasing the patience of the camera worker.

Santiago says to Juliette that "We are slaves of our words," implying that silence among people should be celebrated, but the dialogue between the characters is perhaps the most successful part of the film. It's playful, lonely and ultra-realistic, and the pair's bond forming is never questioned. I envy the two for all their happy accidents and foibles, for it brings them to realizations that only adventurers can have.

"We can't do much with these memories," is a quote from the film that expresses the great fragility of every moment. Juliette jumps into a pen of sheep on a beautiful Argentinian farm; the sheep scatter at exactly the same rate in their respective directions and leave a wide birth for her to walk through. It's magical and serene and impermanent--worth remembering but not articulating. But then why am I so choked up.

Our experiences are randomly generated but it's our job to form a cohesion between them all. Our perspectives and desires help to bare the fruit, and Beyond the Road captures this in such a way that each viewer becomes instrumental in the overall meaning.