Of Horses and Men

Benedikt Erlingsson debut film reinforces my belief that there is no point to any beast unless they serve a legitimate purpose.  Written as well as directed by Erlingsson this Icelandic black comedy is, to say the least, a strange affair, not an unenjoyably one, just strange! Of Horses and Men (201,3) is beautifully shoot in the bleak rural Icelandic countryside by Bergsteinn Bjorulfsson, it’s the story of an isolated community who are smallholders and horse breeders that have a weird kinship with the Icelandic ponies that seem to inhabit their part of the country in great numbers. There is an underlying sexuality, a constant threat of death or injury and where its community imbibe very large quantities of alcohol seemingly to null the pain of their lives.

Strange goings on in Iceland!

We first meet Kolbeinn (Ingvar Eggert Sigurossen who played the police officer in the wonderful Jar City in 2006) who after saddling up a small white pony, that he’s obviously a little too fond of, is seen riding across the valley to court the passionate widow Solveig (Charlotte Boving).  Joined by her mother and young son - tea and cake are served. On leaving to return home Solveig’s frisky black mare rises to the occasion and mounts the wee white mare with Kolbeinn still astride!  The valley looks on with the aid of binoculars and Kolbeinn’s embarrassment is resolved when he tearfully shoots his pony - dead. Another of the local male population is seen riding a horse into the ice-cold sea to intercept a Russian trawler to allow him to collect some very strong alcohol, ignoring the warning the crewmembers give him - tragedy follows. A dispute over a barbwire boundary fence also ends in disaster producing a second widow and another man loosing the sight in one eye. This incident is followed by a Spanish visitor getting stranded at night in below zero temperatures with one of the ponies and is forced to take an action that I promise you will make you look away.

 

Tragedy is never far away....

....nor is alcohol!

As you can see a film that’s somewhat different, but none the less enthralling with an excellent soundtrack by David Thor Jonsson that consists of choral sounds and primal drumming underscoring the power of its deadpan humour. And just remember that if you take off your rain pants it’s bound to rain!

Bjarnfredarson.

Families are not always what there cracked up to be!!!

Please, please, please don’t let the Americans get their ruinous little mits on this superb Icelandic comedy. Bjarnfredarson (2009) is fall of delightful larger than life characters that actually make you laugh, characters you actually end up caring about. The film is a sequel to three Icelandic TV series consisting The Night Shift, Day Shift and Prison Shift. Directed by the 40-year-old Ragnar Bragason, it won a hat full of awards in its native country even beating James Cameron’s 2009 so-called blockbuster Avatar at the box office, no surprise there!! In fact it has been seen by over 20% of the Icelandic population. I can hear the astonishment from here.

This character driven movie, which has a fabulous script, tells the story of Georg, a rather sad melancholic man who tries to fit into society after his childhood indoctrination by his obsessive left wing green loving mother. A desperate man looking for redemption that tries to drowned himself but finds the water to cold!! When he eventually confronts his mother at a packed dinner in her honour he finds the words he wanted to say to her all his life. “My life has been an endless battle against windmills” he goes on to say he has never known friendship or anything normal and that the world has turned its back on him admitting that he does not feel in sync with it. He goes on to tell the attentive female audience that his mother has no time for him and has admitted on live TV to never having a son. A moving and emotional conclusion to what seems a lifetime of desperation where Georg has played the role his mother had forced upon him. His final poignant act of rebellion is to travel to America to see his father, a man he has never met and changing the name his mother gave him to his fathers: there after to be known as George Washington.    A surprisingly good film that I would highly recommend, if you could track it down. It puts me in mind of the Norwegian film Horton (2007) both have the same approach of telling a poignant story in a wonderful comedic fashion. 

It looks like Georg hasn't had his supper yet?