“The Big Lonely” is a captivating film that tells the story of Michael nelms, a persecuted man beaten by a callous bureaucracy and left without money to live on the streets. Having been a successful car salesman, real estate broker, and victim of several bad marriages, retiring to a remote forest hideaway seems like a logical choice. Living under a bridge as a homeless person holds no appeal for this man.
As he speaks to the camera, we discover that he has built this little cabin on federal land and justifies his right to be there by calling it a mining claim, a bogus one, he confesses. One of his daily tasks is to collect water from a nearby stream. The winter has been hard and he has to cross a foot of ice. Leading the way is his dog Tic, a wolf-malamute mix. Food is a constant necessity in this desert and obtaining fresh meat is a demanding challenge. In the winter, elk and deer go to lower elevations where food is more plentiful and the snow is not as deep. Snow cover levels have reached up to ten feet in recent years.
As such, meat sources are limited to rabbits, coyotes, and rats. Dressing those animals and cooking them is an important part of the film. Michael shares his fixations with his dog Tic and his relationship is one of equal partners in their quest to survive.
However, it is not the issues of survival that make this film unique, but rather the positive attitude of the participants, both Michael and his dog, Tic. They accept difficulties as part of life and work together to overcome them. When a bear attacks Michael and pins him to the ground, he stabs the animal in the windpipe. He describes this ordeal in detail, right down to the buzzing sounds as the bear gasps for air. It is a horrendous moment in his life and he displays the resulting scars with some trepidation. While the bear meat got them through another winter, the attack left him with repeated nightmares. Michael says, “Dreams are where your mind takes you. Nightmares are where your mind takes you.”
It is philosophies like these that give weight to this film, which this man has learned from his time in the wild and openly shares his thoughts with us. He talks about dying and wanting his body to replenish the earth that fed him for so many years. With supplies running low in the middle of winter, the two travel about fifty miles to resupply. Michael sets up camp outside of town and finds various jobs to buy supplies to get them through the coming winter.
You may be wondering how you were able to videotape so much footage without an electrical source to recharge your camera batteries. While not covered in the movie, I did notice a couple of solar powered devices mounted on a tree, which probably allowed the battery to be recharged.
The film is a stunning tale of selfies as we eavesdrop on a man finding peace and understanding in the Oregon wilderness. It is one man’s inspiring story of the resilience and durability of the human spirit. A moving film, “The Big Lonely” imparts prophetic wisdom about the sins of the past and hopes for the future.
CREDITS: Cast: Michael Nelms; Director – David Manougian; Producer: Troy Gamble and David Kamens; Executive Producer – David Monougian; Editor- Kerribeth Elliot Chambers Configuration and Consulting – JP Morgan; Camera and Sound – Michael Nelms; Composer and performer of original music: Robin Zimmermann; Sound editor: Reed Harvey; Online Publisher – William Schultz; A Juicebox production presentation; unclassified; 82 minutes.