THE COUNTY

It is evident from the opening sequence in which Inga (Arndis Hronn Egilsdottir) helps a cow deliver a calf that she is a gutsy and resourceful heroine.

Inga lives in a small Icelandic farming community with her husband and struggles to make ends meet especially now that the local Cooperative has a total monopoly on the community’s products and by preventing anyone from selling to other companies. Following a tragic event Inga decides to take matters into her own hands and challenge the Co-op’s corrupt methods…

It is a compelling film thanks to Egilsdottir’s strong presence and intelligent performance. Director Grimur Kakonarson follows his RAMS with another terrific film also set in the rural part of Iceland, making great use of the beautiful yet harsh landscape. It is a very powerful, topical film yet it brought to mind 1984, the vintage year in which Hollywood rushed to the screen a plethora of stories featuring feisty farm wives – Sally Field in PLACES IN THE HEART, Sissy Spacek in THE RIVER and best of all Jessica Lange in COUNTRY. Now this Icelandic setting could easily be transported to America for a possible remake.

Last year Iceland’s WOMAN AT WAR was one of the best films of the year and this Nordic country is quickly establishing itself as a place of producing intelligent and passionate films. (Curzon Home Cinema)

 

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE

A fresh and original road movie that begins in the Netherlands and travels through Bosnia. The action is seen through the eyes of Alma (Sara Luna Zoric), a Dutch young woman of Bosnian descent as she travels to her birth country in order to visit her estranged sick father. She first meets her indifferent cousin Emir and his best friend Denis for whom Alma develops an instant attraction…

Writer/director Ena Sendijarevic follows her free spirited heroine across the country and photographs her adventures in unorthodox camera angles yet in perfectly framed compositions. It is an unpredictable adventure and the deeper Alma enters the country’s heartland the more she begins to learn about herself. A journey of discovery worth joining! (MUBI)

 

EDGE OF EXTINCTION

Yet another post-apocalyptic thriller this week – British writer/director Andrew Gilbert sets the action in a remote rural environment where civilization no longer. One man (Luke Hobson) lives in isolation in his bunker and struggles to survive against the odds. He fondly remembers his family but is still haunted by the memories of the nuclear attack which fifteen years earlier devastated the country. But one day after he meets a group of survivors he finds himself in a much more dangerous and savage predicament…

A familiar premise with committed performances from an enthusiastic young cast whose acting varies from the intense and meaningful to a lot of shouting. Overall, it lacks pace and tension while writer/director Gilbert, who also acts as a producer, doesn’t even cut a single frame or a word in this otherwise overlong and repetitive film. Try and see Steven Fingleton’s THE SURVIVALIST instead! (Digital Download Inc. iTunes)

 

THE 1000 EYES OF DR MABUSE

The last film of veteran German director Fritz Lang – the leading light of silent cinema and expressionism with such distinguished classics as METROPOLIS and M. His fascination with Dr. Mabuse began in 1933 with THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE and now in the year 1960, Lang completes the circle with a cold war thriller that predates James Bond and all those sixties spy movies. Even GOLDFINGER himself Gert Forbe is here playing Kras, a Berlin Commissioner, who gets a phone call from clairvoyant Cornelius predicting the murder of an esteemed journalist…

It is a terrific film shot in black and white with stunning set pieces and perfectly framed compositions. Compelling from beginning to end with a clever and totally unpredictable twist! (Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment)

 

SATANTANGO

The prospect of watching a seven and half hour black and white Hungarian film may not sound such an attractive idea, but Bela Tarr’s 1994 master work defies expectations. It certainly requires patience as the snail-like action develops in a small, run down Hungarian village in the 1990’s. It is the beginning of autumn and the rains never stop while a few of the villagers expect to receive a large cash payment before they leave the village. But the unexpected visit of Irimias, whom they presumed dead, throws things out of proportion…

It is superbly photographed in long takes that bring to mind Theo Angelopoulos, in particular THE TRAVELLING PLAYERS. Tarr follows his protagonists as they walk endlessly through the rainy, harsh landscape. A hypnotic and mesmerising experience! (DVD from Curzon)

 

LAND OF LITTLE RIVERS

This illuminating documentary about fly fishing is a labour of love for retired businessman and fly-fishing enthusiast Bruce Concours, who paired up with producer/director Aaron Weisblatt. Their fascinating film begins in the Catskill Mountains of New York – the birthplace of fly fishing and examines the passion for the sport in this beautiful part of the world and its surroundings, which is suitably called the land of little rivers. Fishing is usually associated with men until the legendary Joan Wolff entered the scene and won a multitude of awards along the way before she opened the Wolff School of Fly Fishing in 1979.

“It was three years before a single woman came to the school but thanks to Robert Redford more woman than men started coming to the fly fishing school following the release of A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT in 1992. You don’t have to be a fly-fishing aficionado to enjoy this beautifully composed journey through the rivers! (DVD & Streaming on Amazon & Vimeo)

 

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