by Finnlay Dall
Worth: $9.40
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs, James Lance, Hermione Norris
Intro:
… unmistakably gorgeous. However, it’s because of that beauty that the film often portrays poverty as something desirable – a character-building exercise for the elite.
While Marianne Elliott’s The Salt Path hopes to provide a feel-good story about overcoming adversity in the face of a cruel and uncaring world, the film finds itself quite removed from the homelessness problem that it tries to shed a light on.
Based on Raynor Winn’s best-selling memoir of the same name, the film follows Raynor (Gillian Anderson) and her husband Moth (Jason Isaacs) as they tackle the South West Coast Path – a 1000km trek from Somerset to Dorset. Unsuccessful in a court settlement between them and a former family friend, the couple’s farm is seized, and the pair are left homeless. Not long after, Moth is diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition that may prove fatal in just a couple of years. With their future uncertain, the pair decide to take the trek, in the hopes that their new home is just over the horizon.
With vibrant landscapes, ocean swells and roaming animals just a hair’s length away from the lens, Elliott’s direction is marvellous to look at. Especially as the tour progresses, and Raynor and Moth’s faces become deeply pocked by hunger and weathered by the elements. There’s a texture to the passage of time in this film that is unmistakably gorgeous. However, it’s because of that beauty that the film often portrays poverty as something desirable – a character-building exercise for the elite.
Thankfully, Anderson and Issac do their best to embody the pain of living day to day, like when Moth chokes down food as he tries to eat, all the while succumbing to medication withdrawals, or when Raynor looks mournfully at her thinning husband while she rations some of her food for him. Yet, the characters and their problems never seem quite as dire as their two actors make them out to be, as most of the time Raynor and Moth seem more desperate for spots of tea than they do water.
Considering the target demographic of the original memoir, it’s no wonder that Elliott seems more interested in the plights of the middle-aged and elderly. The stress of getting older and finding purpose in your older years are themes worth exploring, but when they are at the expense of overshadowing a much larger and more pressing issue, they start to come across as patronising.
When Raynor meets a nervous young runaway while in line for food at a shelter, she strikes up a conversation with the girl. And when her boyfriend becomes combative towards Raynor’s innocuous questions, she and Moth offer to let her join them in their walk. However, what looks to be a turning point, as the couple help the young woman unpack her abuse and gain more confidence on the rest of the journey, turns into them sending the poor girl on a bus back to her grandmother’s house.
The Salt Path is filled with moments like this: little vignettes that while providing comfort, come off as insidious when compared with what the film treats as major threats or triumphs. When domestic abuse becomes a side story to something as “world shattering” as not being able to help your daughter when her overseas flight is cancelled, what is an audience left to think?
Whether it’s Elliott’s interpretation, or Raynor’s memoir, The Salt Path’s embellishments and scenic imagery will no doubt keep the older folks content, but for anyone under a certain age, it’s unlikely that they’ll be buying a ticket anytime soon, especially if they have to choose between this and paying rent.
