In rural
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason,
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
Release Date: 1h 46min
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Rated R for some bloody violent images and
sexuality/nudity
Runtime: 1h 46min
Review:
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s debut film is a
meditative folk tale that plays like a long lost Grimm's Fairy Tales. Jóhannsson’s film is beautifully filmed,
filled with wonderfully composed shots that he leaves on screen for maximum
effect. It’s the type of film that’s
uses visuals far more than actual dialogue, there’s barely a line of dialogue
in the film for the first thirty minutes.
It’s methodical in its paces almost to a fault but maintains a steady
sense of eeriness and foreboding for the majority of its runtime. Holding together the scant script are two
fantastic turns from Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason. Rapace and Guðnason communicate book loads of
information with simple looks and gestures, the mundane sadness and grief seeps
through the screen in the film’s first half.
They’re understated subtle performances that are so emotionally dense
that you just have to appreciate the talent on display. Björn Hlynur Haraldsson joins the pair as the
loser brother in law in the second half of the film who brings some chaotic
energy to the pairs new found familial bliss.
Lamb is the type of film that won’t be for everyone with it’s leisurely
pace and bizarre conceit but it creates a palpable sense of tension while being
touching at the same time.
B+
