No Man's Land

Leonard Maltin calls "No Man's Land" a companion piece to Alain Tanner's more acclaimed "Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000"; true, it too is an ensemble piece, made by the same director in a similar minimalistic style, but it has no "plot" connection to "Jonah" and lacks its political charge and its surrealistic elements. It is also not as engaging. But it is effectively disorienting (we're never quite sure which side of the French - Swiss border we're on, living up to the title), beautifully photographed (especially at night-time, in the forest), and has some wonderfully introspective moments, like a man describing seeing a woman's soul through her eyes ("it's like a well...you don't see the bottom"). **1/2 out of 4.