Rams – Film Review by Pat V.

Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Writer: Grímur Hákonarson
Stars: Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving

Though the title might suggest a tacky frat boys’ blue movie, Rams, by director Grimur Hakonarson, is in fact a moving and delicate film set among a farming community in northern Iceland. And while the thought of a story about sheep farmers in the snow may not immediately get the blood rushing, this is a captivating and beautifully shot film that well deserved its top prize in Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival 2015 and which holds the attention from first frame to last.

The story is set in a secluded valley in Iceland where brothers, Gummi and Kiddi, live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral stock is considered one of the country’s best. But although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in over 40 years. Their antagonism is obvious from the very start though it is only much later in the film that the reason for this is revealed. There is also a great sense of rivalry between the brothers, both of whom tend their flock in the hope of winning the local competition for the Best Ram. However, when a suspected outbreak of scrapie (a fatal degenerative disease that affects the nervous system of sheep) occurs, everything in their lives changes.

When we first meet the brothers it is summertime and though the bleak landscape reflects the limited lives they lead, there is a sense of optimism and possibilities. They are preparing their rams for the annual competition and arrive at the local judging centre dressed in their Sunday best and wearing sweaters that would make Sarah Lund, of The Killing, envious. The importance that the competition holds for the whole rural community and the excitement it generates underlines the austere yet fulfilling circumstances under which they live their daily lives. However when the scrapie is discovered and as summer turns to a harsh winter the brothers are faced with a struggle for their livelihood and for their very existence and the past and the effect it has had on their lives has to be faced up to at last.

The performances of Sigurour Sigurjonsson and Theodor Juliusson who play the brothers, Gummi and Kiddi, are so natural and visceral that one constantly needs to remind oneself that this is a work of fiction and not a documentary. They look as shaggy and unkempt as their sheep and the naturalistic acting and evocative interior shots give a feeling of total authenticity to their portrayal of the brothers. There is a serious core to the film but it is not without its comic elements, one being the sheepdog who repeatedly carries notes from one brother to the other, the only kind of communication between them, and also when Gummi carries a drunken Kiddi in the bucket of his tractor and dumps him in front of A&E.

This combination of visual lyricism and naturalism allows Rams to transcend its parochial surroundings and presents us with a beautiful film that is both broad in its emotional intensity, and yet intimately invested in local detail. The melancholy music of Atli Ovarsson perfectly complements the stark but striking cinematography. This is a film that touches the heart and ends on an enigmatic note that will linger in the memory long after you have left the cinema.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWVmUVAdi5Y