Low Lies The Land

In Northern Italy, the sun-dappled hills of Piemonte look like the setting of an escapist travel fantasy. Perhaps you’ve daydreamed about living on a vineyard in a place like this. Low Lies the Land allows us to vicariously experience the simple pleasures of working outdoors, harvesting fresh produce, hand-rolling pasta, and sampling new wines. But the film also plays like a slow-burn suspense over what changes might be coming. 

Director Emanuele Gerosa immerses himself in the households of three families who have tended these vineyards for generations. Cinematographer Alvise Tedesco does impressive work shooting in a panoramic format with exquisite compositions. The film shares thematic and cinematic qualities with The Tale of Silyan and The Truffle Hunters, which won the hearts of TIFF audiences in recent years. 

But this Garden of Eden has its own serpent in the form of a real estate broker. He represents an unnamed foreign investor who’s seeking to buy up properties and promising a once-in -a-lifetime price. That puts a heavy decision on the middle-aged growers who are simultaneously facing other pressures. 

Rising temperatures and drought increasingly put each year’s crop at risk. And for a business largely handed down from father to son, it’s uncertain if the next generation wants the job. We follow the three families over the course of a year, from one pruning season to the next, as they contemplate whether they’ve reached the end of an era. 

THOM POWERS