*****
No sex, no violence no CGI special effects, no drugs, not even a raised voice, and just over an hour and a half in length. Imagine that. If only more directors would follow Max Walker-Silverman’s example.
'Rebuilding' stars Josh O Connor as Dusty, a cowboy who has had his livelihood wiped out by a fire that has parched the ground for miles around. The land will take eight to ten years to recover, he is told, by a hard-nosed, sympathetic bank manager.
The State gives Dusty a temporary trailer to help him through the disaster. There’s a small circle of these trailers, each housing local refugees from the big fire. The little community of victims accepts their plight with stoical resignation, each using their own particular skill and unselfish kindness to help neighbourhood victims.
Dusty’s domestic desolation is mirrored by his familial relationships, in particular his eight year-old daughter, Callie-Rose, who lives mainly with his estranged wife in a safer location, near enough to visit.
There’s a Coen brothers feel to some of the cinematography, particularly the montage of stills that celebrate the stunning vastness of the country. It’s perpetually beautiful, rich with potential but fragile and insecure. As a metaphor for family life, it’s perfect. Callie-Rose, played brilliantly by Lily LaTorre, clearly worships her taciturn father. She reads a schoolbook story with him about a cowboy with magic boots whose life is thrillingly exciting and fulfilling, until the boots no longer fit. Cue brief sequences of Dusty, working for the highways department, twiddling a stop-go sign to control the traffic. In one extended clip, Dusty has the Stop sign squarely facing a herd of cattle, oblivious to him, and to his sign’s instruction. They pass by nonchalantly, followed by a few dogs and ranchers on horseback.
This is a story about family, and about legacy. Generations of Dusty’s family have lived in the now burnt-out home. Gravestones remain, along with some concrete foundations. Dusty owns the land but cannot raise the money to afford to rebuild the family home. Abandoning the place, and his daughter, to go and work with his cousin in distant Montana, seems the only option, before a Damascene moment, and a few thousand dollars left in a will, enables Dusty to provide an ending that is, perhaps a little clichéd, but as happy as we could have hoped for.
It’s a moving and heartwarming film where emotions are underplayed to great effect, like the batsman who reaches a century and just tips his cap, or gently raises his bat to acknowledge the crowd’s applause, in stark contrast to the air punching, high-leaping, badge kissing, screeching of today’s centurions. We are taken back in time, reminded of values that we used to have, will always have, despite difficulties and disasters, man-made or natural. 'Rebuilding' celebrates the patience of stoicism, and the skills of judicious editing that gives the audience exactly what they need, and no more.
