Set high in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, Julia Loktev’s (Day Night Day Night) film based on Tom Bissell’s short story of the same title, The Loneliest Planet is a cautionary tale about the trails of travelling off the beaten track. Seduced by the remote and stunning vista of the Khevi region, a young engaged couple Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal - Amores Perros / The Motorcycle Diaries) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg, who has starred in a few short films and the TV series Law and Order and CSI), are curious and determined to have the full-on ‘Lonely Planet’ experience with the help of their guide Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze), a local Georgian.

In a world where travel guides and the internet document every possible excursion, the couple, and indeed the audience, find themselves sharing a rare experience. The beauty of the terrain is overwhelming and almost exhausting as we follow the trio on their trek through the mountains. The free-spirited young couple is obviously more in tune with this type of holiday than a planned tour with a group, for this adventure requires stamina and the desire to discover places that make you intensely aware of the raw and savage splendour of Mother Nature. They set up their tent on windy peaks, commune around the campfire at night and enjoy their obvious love for one another; until something happens to question their whole experience. At this moment you are forced out of any reverie the slow pace of the earlier scenes might have put you in and you spend the rest of the film in a similar state of anxiety to the couple.

Despite this, there are moments when this film is ‘spectacularly’ boring. Why? Well, regardless of the stunning scenery, it is simply because most of the time nothing really happens; even though, as in all good films, tension does build as the journey progresses. The players are all very watchable and the performances, particularly Bernal’s, are gentle and very real. At one stage I forgot that I was watching a drama onscreen and felt more as if I was actually on the trip with them - an invisible stalker, perhaps? Certainly Inti Briones’ extraordinary cinematography aids in creating this illusion.

Loktev’s film has done well on the international festival circuit but has divided audiences; if you suffer from a short attention span The Loneliest Planet will test your patience. It is noteworthy that the crew actually hiked to the locations and also camped out on occasion, which must have made for a very interesting shoot - far better than being stuck in a studio. If you are intrepid by nature and adventurous in spirit, you’ll enjoy this journey. If you prefer a holiday planned within an inch of its duration, then maybe you should watch this anyway; it might make you realise what you’re missing out on.

// SALT

Previewed at Universal Theatrette, Millers Point, Sydney, on Tuesday 19 February 2013