The Company of Strangers

The Company of Strangers is a Canadian film directed by Cynthia Scott, which follows a group of eight women who get stranded on a country road while on their way to a bus stop in a remote location in Andes after their tour bus breaks down. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the women, who were previously strangers, are left with no option but to trudge along the path to find help.

The women, who belong to different backgrounds and age groups, initially seem to be an unlikely group to embark on an adventure together. They bicker, complain, and squabble as they try to deal with the situation they are in. However, as they move forward, they begin to open up to each other, bonding over shared experiences, as they walk through the lush - but mostly deserted - landscape. The women create their little community and share hope, loss, pain, fear, love and tenderness, they laugh, sing, dance and play together, dancing in fields, drinking from streams and forging bonds through shared experience.

As they make their way across vast farmland, old village ruins, and mossy rocks, they are left to their own devices. They become increasingly self-sufficient, hunting and foraging for food, making fires, and fashioning shelters from their surroundings. Amidst these trials and tribulations, the women reveal intimate details about their lives which goes to show how their connection is now one of condition and trust.

Set in the post-feminist era, The Company of Strangers is a powerful depiction of women's solidarity and independence, as well as the endurance of human spirit. It emphasizes the strengths, weaknesses, and contradictions which are instilled within the social and psychological mechanisms inflicted upon women. The film depicts the women not as symbols of feminism, but as individuals who have their goals, aspirations, and limitations.

The scenery of the film is nothing short of breathtaking. The vast landscapes and the wide-open skies look immaculate on camera, and the director does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of the different areas the women travel through. Throughout The Company of Strangers, there is an impending sense of danger, which is palpable, as the women have no means of communication and are entirely cut off from the outer world. However, this underlying sense of dread only serves to highlight the film's heart, which is the connection between the women.

The acting in the movie is exceptional. The women - played by Alice Diabo, Constance Garneau, Beth Webber, amongst others - are all equally outstanding in their performances. Given the circumstances, the movie has an organic cinematic quality that highlights the power of the female bond that exists in even the unlikeliest situations. It is an exploration of the resiliency of individuals, and how women, when it comes to working together, can achieve remarkable things.

In conclusion, The Company of Strangers is an understated masterpiece, a film of rare tenderness and enduring wisdom that effortlessly illustrates the ways women communicate and form independent networks of affinity. The audience is immersed in the movie, not as spectators but as partakers in the journey. It realistically conveys to the viewers how ordinary people can, at times, find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, all while showcasing how powerful the bond between human beings can be in the face of adversity.