Recall that Limbo was filmed during the last years of the Clinton administration. If you'll pay attention to a lot of the dialog at the wedding party at the open, you'll understand many issues that were in play at the time. (Which by the way are not explicitly linked by the script to Bill Clinton, but actually are.)
I watched the first half of Limbo last night before going to sleep. On retrospect, the ambience suggested by the on-location shooting is pretty subtle and you have to look beyond the talking heads for the local scenery. The first part of the movie is set-up for the second part, and anyone looking for an Alaska travelogue is going to be disappointed. The script is important, so pay attention to the lines. I even picked up some things that I had missed in several earlier viewings.
I thought it was funny that they renamed Juneau to "Port Henry" and named the main character, Joe Gastineau, after the Gastineau Channel--a fiord that goes by my office, and where, on occasion, you can see without leaving your desk orcas, floatplanes (even some upside-down ones), cruise ships, and the tide going in and out twice a day.
One thing you can't see is logging and clearcuts, because the forest that was slashed to the very last stick for mine timbers has already regenerated itself to a fine rainforest that fools almost everybody. |
