Sundance 2009: "Over the Hills and Far Away" Review - Written by Mathius Mack Gertz

(no image available)


Over the Hills and Far Away
USA, 2008, 94min., color
Genre: Documentary
Director: Michel Orion Scott
Producer: Rupert Isaacson
Cinematographer: Jeremy Bailey
Editor: Rita K Sanders
Assistant Editor: Michelle Green
Composers: Lili Haydn, Kim Carroll
Sound Recordist: Justin Hennard
Website: www.overthehillsmovie.com


Over the Hills and Far Away explores one family’s journey as they take their autistic five year old son Rowan to Ulaanbaatar and travel on horseback, searching for the elusive reindeer herders and the most powerful shaman in the country. We meet the Isaacson’s, Rupert a British journalist and human-rights activist and Kristin a psychology professor from suburban California, as their perfect life together begins to fall apart. They try conventional therapies, diets and medication, all to no avail. However, Rupert had witnessed the potency of traditional healing and discovered that his son has a special bond with horses. He researched and found a place that combined horseback riding and shamanic healing—Mongolia.

The film unfolds as a very personal story, at times uncomfortably so, and travelogue of the Isaacson’s travels and travails as regards their son Rowan and his autism. At times you feel like you are watching the Travel Channel, at times a reality styled soap opera. The story unspools with little drama but you watch because it is so personal and painful you would feel guilty to leave. The payoff comes at the end. No, they do not find a cause or a cure for Rowan’s autism, but they do find relief for him of many of the symptoms. Especially those having to do with potty training, fits and socialization. The dramatic difference is remarkable. For those directly or indirectly affected with autism this is a five star must see. For the rest, three stars will do.