Employing magical realism like Electrick Children, Letters from the Big Man is a completely original movie. A young woman of fierce independence has left a career with the US Forest Service to do art. Upended by a bad breakup, she takes an assignment from her former employer that conveniently requires her to do what she really needs to do – make a solo backpacking trip deep into the southern Oregon forests.
The opening quarter of the movie establishes two things. First, the ancient Oregon forest is awesomely beautiful and inspires reflection. Second, this woman’s wilderness skills are beyond impressive – she hikes, kayaks, chops wood, makes camp and kindles fire with great ease. It’s clear that she is extremely experienced in the wild, and she exudes confidence. She recognizes every plant species, snorkels to count the horns on a sturgeon and wades into streams to measure the siltation. And she can handle a handgun, too. Wow. (Later in the movie, we see her matter-of-factually rig her bike to recharge her laptop battery with pedal power.) She comes to realize that someone/something is following her, a thought that may terrify the audience (especially at night), but which only annoys and intrigues her.
As the young woman, Lily Rabe carries the film with her physicality and strength of will. (Rabe is the daughter of the late Jill Clayburgh.) Her character is also prickly, which keeps us from warming to her right away. But she attracts the attention of two males. The first is another backpacker, who turns out to be an environmental activist at odds with the Forest Service and ready for female company. The second is a Bigfoot, who rages against logging in his forest, but who melts at the sight of our heroine and leaves her piles of twigs as tokens of his affection (this is the magical realism). The movie turns on her response to her two suitors.
Writer-director Christopher Munch has created a movie of uncommon beauty, and he has the balls to include a lovelorn Bigfoot. The magical realism works because he presents it absolutely straight, as if having a Sasquatch in the story is as normal as a squirrel. Most of the rest of the story is extremely realistic, especially the interactions between officials of the Forest Service, environmentalist activists and loggers. The one exception is an unnecessarily farfetched conspiracy theory about military intelligence.
Letters from the Big Man is one of the best looking and best sounding movies of the year. Visually, it’s like trekking through wilderness (but without the insects). And the sound track is exquisite, centered on the natural sounds of rushing water and animal calls, occasionally augmented with an ensemble’s reverential music.
Will Sasquatch get the girl? It’s worth finding out. Letters from the Big Man is available on VOD, including on Amazon Instant.
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