Rustling Landscapes - at least for me - is the most agreeable surprise of this year’s Slovenian film productions… … Although (it) does not serve up an easy subject - no, here we have the darker side of human relationships, tasted by each one of us in one form or another - it is none the less cathartic, powerful, emotional and convincing… … And the end product is a whole lot more than some others that have received a whole lot more support and money from the state coffers.
   -Samo Rugelj (Premiera, Ljubljana, no. 36, 3 - 16 April 2002)

The unity of the cast can be seen primarily in the overall perfection of the final product; Rustling Landscapes is the best crafted film of this year’s Portorož Festival. The only one for which it seems that it was discussed seriously and objectively before shooting. The film was shot by hand, but if you’re thinking of the flitting film Dogma 95, think again; the camera is steady and controlled, and the final effect is hard to distinguish from a big budget work.
   -Peter Zupanc (Novi tednik, Celje, 11 April 2002)

Credit should go to the makers of this film firstly because they succeeded in keeping it within a convincingly realistic framework. This gives it a narrative purity and dramatic solidity… … It has created a density of relationships that offer - as far as modern Slovenian film is concerned - an unseen psycho-social picture… … It begins with the news that this is now for real - and sticks to this until the end.
   -Peter Kolšek (Delo, Ljubljana, 13 April 2002)

It would be hard to find a Slovenian film in which the actors get more enjoyment out of their lines.
   -Marcel Štefančič, jr. (Mladina, Ljubljana, 15 April 2002)

This is one of those rare, and in the recent times of “new” or “youth” Slovenian films indeed the only film, in which the cast know how to converse… … At the end of the film the three of them (the main protagonists - Triglav Film) are left alone, but not in some final, but rather in some temporary state, as if they were taking time out to consider. And the whole film talks with exceptional sensitivity, maturity and seriousness about how this is both simple and difficult.
   -Zdenko Vrdlovec (Dnevnik, Ljubljana, 16 April 2002)

A genuine psychological study.
   -Uroš Smasek (Večer, Maribor, 17 April 2002)

A charming and witty drama that draws the action out of the characters, and also demolishes the great taboos of Slovenian film-making… … A film of excellent performances, clear directorial vision and excellent screenplay, which has come together as the fruit of the actors’ improvisation and is inspired by the concept simply, humanly and brilliantly.
   -Dražen Štader (Vikend magazin, Ljubljana, 20 - 26 April 2002)

The film deals with the universal theme of the relationship between man and woman, and shows both its dark and brighter moments. In this it avoids sliding either into pettiness because of the former or into exaggerated levity because of the latter.
   -Jurij Emeršič (Družina, Ljubljana, 21 April 2002)

In his feature film debut, too, Janez Lapajne does not forget what made his student films so wonderful: the “culprit” is his masterful management of the actors, who fuse into one through the characters they portray.
   -Aleš Čakalič (Teletext Slovenian National TV, April/May 2002)

On the thematic front the film shows no unhealthy ambitions of trying at any price to uncover some entirely new, as yet unworked area of human relationships, but at the same time it resists the even more dangerous temptation of sealing up finally some sensitive chapter of these relationships… … Rustling Landscapes attracts through its fresh, relaxed, yet at the same time quite clearly thought out and concertedly executed performance concept, through the ‘soft’ yet not lax directorial approach, and particularly through the open joy in verbal communication. This last point is a true achievement for Slovenian film.
   -Bojan Kavčič (Stop, Ljubljana, 2 May 2002)

Rustling Landscapes, winner of the 5th Slovenian Film Festival, has for some time now been thrilling everyone who went off to the cinema boldly and without preconceptions, even though this is a Slovenian film. Indeed the film is exceptionally heartfelt, convincing and straight from life - such that the viewer starts unwittingly seeking parallels with their own life and often even forgets that they are actually sitting in a cinema.
   -Tina Barbič (Eva, Ljubljana, May 2002)

Janez Lapajne’s first full-length feature film arrived quietly, almost unnoticed, without any of the self-aggrandising media pomp that usually accompanies the production of a feature film in Slovenia. It arrived quietly and entered history… Not of course, because at the 5th Slovenian Film Festival in Portorož it “swept aside” the competition and took all three main prizes - the audience prize, the critics’ prize and the jury’s prize for best film… … Rustling Landscapes is a major cinematographic undertaking, for an entirely simple reason: it is a good film (and of course not the only one at this year’s Portorož). And every good film in Slovenia is - for the moment still - a historic achievement.
   -Andrej Šprah (Ekran, nos. 3 and 4, Ljubljana, 2002)

A quiet triumph of focused improvisation, Slovene relationship drama Rustling Landscapes marks a noteworthy feature debut from Janez Lapajne and his quartet of leads… … Under Lapajne's sure hand, universally understood issues of communication, fidelity, jealousy, longing and frustration are presented clearly and without manipulative sentiment, allowing the fundamental decency of the characters to shine through.
   -Eddie Cockrell (Variety, 16 – 22 September 2002)