Directed by:
Grímur HákonarsonScreenplay:
Grímur HákonarsonCinematography:
Sturla Brandth GrøvlenComposer:
Atli ÖrvarssonCast:
Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theódór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving, Jón Benónýsson, Gunnar Jónsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Þorleifur Einarsson (more)VOD (1)
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Siblings Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodór Júlíusson) have been living side by side without speaking to each other for forty years, each tending to their pedigree ancestral flock. When communication can't be avoided, Kiddi's dog Somi trots between houses carrying their handwritten notes between his teeth. Kiddi is a boozer and brawler, a popular figure at community get-togethers, but it's through the eyes of his gentle younger brother Gummi that we see him acting out. Their world is upended when the valley comes under threat from infection. While neighbours abandon their land, each brother tries to stave off disaster: Kiddi by taking action, and Gummi by using his wits. As the authorities close in, there's every reason for them to set aside a lifetime of hostility to save their special breed, and their unique way of life, from extinction. But can they? (Palace Films)
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Reviews (7)
The Icelandic nature, once again, got deep under my skin. And what’s better, is that it was in the cinema for the first time, which I am incredibly grateful for. It can be once again seen how deeply and strongly the Icelandic nation is connected to nature. Rams are based on it and it definitely isn’t an easy movie to watch, quite the opposite. There isn’t much talking in the movie, which isn’t a bad thing, because everything else is handled by the luxurious camera and the Icelandic nature. But when the talking does start, it’s more or less very factual. Here and there an absurd joke appears, which is actually typical of Icelandic movies, and in the finale, the movie even creates some feelings, which are being stretched more and more until they collide with the poetic, but a pretty brutal conclusion. There is nothing more to add, this is a clear five-star affair, and once again, hats off for a great movie experience and presentation of something new and unusual in our world.
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Two rams reared by rams are forty years old and do not talk to each other until they are forced to do so by an infection that attacks their neighboring herds. A poetic drama about brothers who benefit from minimalist poetics, captivating landscapes, the creative cameras of the rising star Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, economical acting creations of bearded lonely people and typical Icelandic weird exotics. It ends up attempting to combine naturalism / symbolism in a conclusion that feels somewhat annoyingly didactic and amateur. But otherwise, given the competition from the Scandinavian closed dramas, Rams definitely belongs under the Cannes spotlights. [Cannes 2015]
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At first glance, the film doesn't exactly pull you in with its plot. It’s about two feuding brothers who haven't spoken in 40 years, but are brought together by their shared love for the flock of sheep they care for. But underneath this is a quiet, strongly emotional gem that doesn't need words, nor does it waste them, to engage you.
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Sheep happens. You will get more out of Rams if you like the more remote areas of Iceland. The movie is sensitive in portraying the characters and their relationships, refined in dispensing information, constantly maintaining the viewer’s curiosity, often through gestures instead of words. Rams imaginatively depicts the Nordic reality of people for whom it is unacceptable to take a sheep raised on genetically modified feed to their farm.
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Eliciting pathos, canary level torture. Watching two overgrown elders, who at some points are hard to tell apart from their bleating protégés, lose everything they cared about and understood in life is a bit like watching Atreyu drowning his horse in a swamp for an hour and a half (AKA childhood ruined. Thanks Petersen). But then again, the austerity and first signal of the whole plot is quite meritorious, because I don't think I could survive a broader statement in this one. I'm glad it's down-to-earth, I'm glad it's "merely" telling a nice and sad story in the first and last lines.
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