Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

As a knitter, I was drawn to this movie because of the Icelandic sweaters and the sheep. I expected it to be some kind of silly comedy about sibling rivalry in a remote clime and thought I'd watch a few minutes just to look at the sweaters. Instead, I wandered into a riveting tale of duty and survival in very harsh conditions and humans who demonstrate an unfailing fortitude in dealing with overwhelming circumstances. This is actually a tale about farmers dealing with the injustice of Scrapie affecting their village (this alone would have drawn me to this movie). The cinematography was rich and I was not disappointed in the authentic Icelandic sweaters that evoked the picturesque backdrop. Well acted, beautifully filmed, and certainly worth watching.

Though there was only scene in this movie that I found funny, I still very much enjoyed it. This movie is beautifully shot, the characters are believable, and the story is well-written. Though it starts off slow, its worth watching all the way through. I'd recommend this movie to pretty much everyone.

Some movies aside from giving us a beautiful cinematographic experience still allow us to expand our worldview knowing a little bit more of other's people culture. In the icelandic movie Hrútar (original title) or Rams (in English) we are presented to the land of fire and ice and now sheep too! Ice due to it's location, near the Arctic Circle, with its numerous glaciers, which flow numerous rivers; fire because the country has the largest number of active volcanoes beside the geysers and hot springs; and sheep since there are more sheep than humans.The story is an existential drama. In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodor Júlíusson) live side by side, dedicating themselves to their flock, who carry an ancient lineage in the country. Although they share the land and the way of life, they haven't talked to each other for 40 years. Soon after an annual contest to elect the best ram, a fatal and neurodegenerative infectious disease is discovered in one of Kiddi's sheep, putting the entire valley under threat. The authorities state that the region will be under quarantine, deciding to slaughter all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. This is almost a death sentence for farmers, whose sheep are their main source of income. Since the local community lives only due to the creation of these animals, many farmers choose to abandon their land, but Gummi and Kiddi won't give up so easily. With authorities closing in to prevent the contamination from spreading, the brothers must come together to save their long award-winning line of sheep, besides themselves, from extinction.In his first major film the director and also screenwriter Grímur Hákonarson skillfully crafts an engaging plot with slow narrative and psychological-emotional approach. Progressively the viewer is captivated by the story and by the relationship or survival difficulties of the two main characters. The tragedy's atmosphere present in the movie increases as the winter approaches and here we have to highlight the great work of the cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen. With the use of many long shots we follow without difficulty the trajectory of the characters and the hard conditions they face. We contemplate the beauty and uniqueness of the landscape of a region which goes from a vibrant and greeny environment to another white, dry, inhospitable and isolated, where the presence of intense cold and snow depict loneliness and exile. The soundtrack punctuates the whole movie, becoming increasingly gloomy with the change of season.The difference of personality between the two brothers is beautifully crafted by the actors, being another strong point in the story. Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) is quiet and conformist while Kiddi (Theodor Júlíusson) is angry and drunkard. The unstated conflicts from the past arouse some mystery in the film and their present interactions cause some funny moments in this family drama.Rams is a film about man's relationship with animals, his habitat and inner self. More than losing the conditions of life and work, losing the sheep means losing your identity, your way of life, losing the essence of what makes you be what you are. Hrútar won the Un Certain Regard Award for best movie at 2015 Cannes Festival.Originally posted in: https://vikingbyheart.blogspot.com.br

I had no idea what this film would actually be about. I imagined that it would be some sort of comedy (how wrong I was). I was not prepared for what I got. The narrative revolves around sheep and the consequences of an infection that is going around that could kill them. The film goes beyond that to really share the emotional bond of two brothers, one that they thought was broken for the longest but that may actually still reside underneath. The performances are exquisite, and everyone involved with this needs to be commended for sticking with a film with such an odd plot line and allowing it to fully blossom. Not sure if I would recommend this to just anyone, but sticking with it will be something that some viewers will absolutely be grateful for.