Robin Wright Went High for ‘ Land,’ Her Feature Directorial Debut
Wright's film — set in remote Wyoming — premiered at Sundance and is being released this week.
Robin Wright directed “Land,” but that doesn't mean she stayed behind the camera during filming. Set in the remote wilderness of the Wyoming Rockies, the film also stars Wright in the lead role of Edee, a grieving woman intent on living off the grid and off the land. “Land” features sweeping landscape shots, and limited dialogue — her costar Demián Bichir shows up midway, as a hunter who rescues Edee from a near-death experience and becomes a platonic outdoor-survival mentor and friend. “The film is about hope and human resilience,” says Wright.
After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 31, “Land” is being released in limited theaters by Focus Features on Feb. 12. Wright discusses her experience of bringing the film to the virtual film festival, how the experience compared to directing episodes of “House of Cards,” and the healing power of nature.
WWD: What it was like for you to “bring” this film to Sundance?
Robin Wright: We were so over the moon when we got accepted into the official selection at the Sundance Film Festival; just such an honor. And especially during this time that we're in quarantine, and everything's virtual and we can't be in Park City in a theater together sharing the experience of this movie, or any movie. And yet it's still resonating.
We feel so blessed that people are feeling the movie. It is very relevant to what's going on today, of being disconnected from our loved ones. We're not living the norm. The message in this movie is about that very thing. You're going with this one character, experiencing her journey of how she deals with grief, and then this beautiful stranger coming into her life. He stumbles upon her path and basically rescues her heart back to life, and they both give each other redemption.
WWD: In terms of coming to the script as a director, were you looking for a feature to direct and then you found the script, or was the decision to direct a reaction to coming across it?
R.W.: I had been reading scripts to direct. I was on a TV show called “House of Cards” at the time, and I knew the show was coming to an end. And I started reading material, and this one just clicked. It was during the time when we were all witnessing, and many were experiencing, loss and tragedy during the random shootings that were going on almost biweekly. This film speaks about how you can become free again and open again, and find life that you thought you couldn't ever find because of the tragedy that you've experienced.
WWD: You directed a few episodes of “House of Cards.” How did directing a feature film compare to those experiences?
R.W.: Well, this one in particular was very different from “House of Cards” in that the whole thing was shot 8,000 feet up on the top of a mountain in Alberta, Canada. And we were dealing with the unpredictable weather patterns that are incredibly beautiful and wicked at the same time, versus “House of Cards” where we were on a stage 90 percent of the six years that we shot that show.
WWD: The environment is a very prominent character in this film. What was your process for directing all the landscape shots and of telling the story through place?
R.W.: [Director of Photography] Bobby Bukowski is such a man of nature. He and I had many, many discussions about how nature is a character in this movie. How do we want it to be seen in the beginning of her journey, where [Edee's] not seeing it, she's not communing with it? It's not communing with her in the beginning. And then once she finds herself feeling a rebirth, with the help of this beautiful soulful stranger that basically saves her, then she starts to become one with nature.
WWD: Was it always your intention to star in the film?
R.W.: No, that was never the intention. We had a very slim window of time. Once we got financed, we needed to bust a move and get up on that mountain before we lost the weather that we needed to shoot in. Because we needed four seasons, and the film spans over two and a half years. And we only had 29 days to shoot it, so we couldn't take the risk of waiting to see if we were going to get it cast in time. So the producer just said, ‘I think you're just going to have to do it, Robin. I mean, we don't really have a choice right now.' I was like, ‘well, I'm going to be up there anyway, so, OK.'
WWD: What are your own outdoor survival skills like, and what has been your own relationship with nature and the outdoors?
R.W.: From childhood, we, as a family, camped all the time. We were always getting in our VW Vanagon. We would go across the country and pop a tent or go into a KOA campground. And that was much of my every summer — traveling and camping and seeing America. So, this was not very foreign to me. I love nature. And I just felt like this story was so, yes, relevant, but pertinent. People want, right now in this quarantine, more nature. They're finding that they need to do more, get out and breathe the air and hug the tree and look at the sky. During this confinement that we're in, that's beautiful medicine.
We had a mountain man who knew how to do everything you could ever imagine if you were to survive on your own, off the grid. He was incredible, and I think he actually lives off the grid himself in real life. He taught us how to chop wood. He taught us how to skin a deer. How to properly light a fire — you know, that's one tricky thing, like, how do you keep a fire going? For me, it was really tough. We definitely have more skills now, Demián and I, but I think I'd feel more comfortable going off the grid if I had my mountain pal with me.
WWD: Do you know what your next project is? Are you interested in directing more, or developing anything along that line?
R.W.: Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm going to direct in a couple of months, a couple of episodes of “Ozark.” That's exciting. Love that show.
And then, yeah, in the works developing other things to direct down the line, for sure.
WWD: What kind of stories are you looking for at the moment, or do you find yourself gravitating toward right now? R.W.: My gut is kind of being pulled into a smart comedy. I feel like we need to laugh more.