Death

One of the main themes in The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich is death. Death comes in many forms and is referred to in many ways, through actual deaths of people and animals to the transition of the seasons and various stages of life.

When Gretel Ehrlich ventured to Wyoming for work, the filmmaker also had the intention of spending those months in Lovell isolating herself from the world, wanting to get lost in the vastness of it all. Instead, just the opposite happened. The death of David almost destroyed Ehrlich who took two years before she could return to her new life in Wyoming. There were also deaths of others, from old timers to men whose hearts simply gave out. There were also the deaths of animals. Some animals died in childbirth or were stillborn, fell off cliffs or simply froze to death. As horrible...