This is a pretty good film for 1912 and at 14 minutes, this is about average length for a movie during this era. The film is a bit overly melodramatic, but its still an interesting story. A young boy in rags is about to go on an outing for underprivileged kids. You see his tough and heart-breaking life and then you see him sneak off to the train that takes them out to the country for the picnic. All this is very well done. However, once at the picnic, things get a bit "schmaltzy" as well as VERY confusing. One of the women is reading the boy and a few other kids some story about magical fairies. Then, a bit later, the kid decides he, too, wants to go off to fairyland and hops aboard a small boat and drifts away and then the movie ends?! What did all this mean? Did the kid die and this was some sort of symbolic tale or did he just go crazy and go off in the boat to die or did he REALLY make it to fairyland? All this and much more is possible and it's really disappointing how vaguely the film concluded. Up until then, it had been pretty good stuff.
Review of The Land Beyond the Sunset
