SPOILER ALERT: contains the key to understanding this movie; if you're still baffled by it read on!
To paraphrase the synopsis: A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization, and reality, and maybe it was all a dream...
The first clue sneaks up on you when the father, who's looking for his daughter in the Patagonian desert, meets a dog that seems to intently lead him to a cave where an old Danish woman lives against all odds and logic; their conversation hints that the woman is his lost daughter (now aged); he seems to feel awkward and leaves to continue his journey anyway. The ending just spells it all out - a young Danish girl wakes up in an empty Danish mansion. As she goes about taking care of her only real companion, the same dog we saw in the first part, it becomes clear that she dreamed the first part of the movie, while weaving elements of her life into that story: her dog, toy-soldier, estranged mother (the unseen murderous cross-dressing deserter?), semi-absent but caring father, and new-found sexuality. The more you look, the more you find... and the vistas are stunning
To paraphrase the synopsis: A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization, and reality, and maybe it was all a dream...
The first clue sneaks up on you when the father, who's looking for his daughter in the Patagonian desert, meets a dog that seems to intently lead him to a cave where an old Danish woman lives against all odds and logic; their conversation hints that the woman is his lost daughter (now aged); he seems to feel awkward and leaves to continue his journey anyway. The ending just spells it all out - a young Danish girl wakes up in an empty Danish mansion. As she goes about taking care of her only real companion, the same dog we saw in the first part, it becomes clear that she dreamed the first part of the movie, while weaving elements of her life into that story: her dog, toy-soldier, estranged mother (the unseen murderous cross-dressing deserter?), semi-absent but caring father, and new-found sexuality. The more you look, the more you find... and the vistas are stunning