Rams (2016)

Really Surprised!

Fresh and Exciting

The acting in this movie is really good.

Blistering performances.

Gummi (the quiet, introvert one) and Kiddi (the aggressive, drunkard, trigger-happy one) are a couple of brothers who live right to each other but haven't spoken for 40 years (whatever the reason). However they not only live like 10 meters from each other, but are also in the same business: sheep.And when Gummi discovers Kiddi's sheep are sick and the authorities decide all the sheep in the valley have to be sacrificed, they will have to reevaluate their lives."Hrútar" is a movie that doesn't take the easy route. It is dark, unrelenting, bleak, with a simple but direct, to the point, use of locations and pace. Grímur Hákonarson is just trying to tell a story, with almost no flourishes or humor (which, when it appears, is so out of the blue that it is kind of a shock). And he does a good job, helped by composed performances of the two actors who play the brothers. The locations are also beautiful, and the sheep (and dog) do a good job with their hard part.However, the movie is so bleak and detached, that it makes it hard for the viewer to really invest in the characters. The story is so simple and the pace comes so much to a crawl in some paces, that the overall effect of the relationship between the two brothers suffers.For fans of slow-paced, with long silences and subtle messages, movies, "Hrútar" answers their prayers, but for everyone else, the movie is just average.

Such a beautiful movie, so true and detailed. Since I have a personal experience of this world displayed in Rams, I would like to say the details are incredible. The characters, their clothing, their speech, their housing, the social life, the weather - it's all beautifully executed. The performance of Sigurður Sigurjónsson and Theodór Júlíusson, is touching.It may be useful to know before watching this movie that Scrapie is a serious infectious disease in sheep, where the animal needs to be put down for a definite diagnosis. Infection has had devastating effects for farmers in some districts in Iceland.

You don't have to have been to Iceland to appreciate Rams, but it certainly helps explicate the film's grizzled, deadpan sense of humour, or the mysterious, beguiling power resonating from their vast, otherworldly landscapes. Writer/director Grímur Hákonarson crafts a skeletally simple tale of a community of farmers caring for their sheep whose livelihood is threatened by an outbreak of Scrapie, and employs it as a parable for changing with the times, or the creative, belligerent lengths some will go to to avoid doing so.Framed against the unyielding, jaw-dropping vistas of the Icelandic countryside, the (unexplained) conflict between the central two farmers, the spectacularly named Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodór Júlíusson), feels equally mythic and etched in fiery stone, with all communication done by note, or the occasional drunken gunshot. It's sometimes difficult to tell what's meant to be funny or sombre in their antics in coping with their isolation and the pending slaughter of their sheep, but Hákonarson embraces the intersection, allowing their impassive, tentative emotional ambiguity and unapologetic wackiness to tease out the tension between amusingly petulant actions and the hard life that's spawned them.In fact, the film's main criticism is an increasing suspicion that the awe-inspiring impassivity of its stony plains and narrative alike overly inflates the sense of profundity therein. There's a primal elegance to the simplicity of Rams, but its scenario and central conflict are somewhat too familiar to not supplant with further scripting or characterization. Hákonarson's glacial pace, at first hypnotic and appropriate for the unyielding consistency of the farmers, becomes restless over time, making the film begin to feel sleepier when it should evidence an elegiac crescendo. Things perk up with a stormy and unexpectedly tender climax, but there's a larger breadth of untapped subtext which leaves the film feeling thoroughly pleasant, but flimsier than it should amidst such steadfast a landscape.If nothing else, the film should be commended for the abilities of its cast to convey so much largely through solemn staring into the distance. Sigurður Sigurjónsson brings a craggy affability to protagonist Gummi, the crinkles of affection crawling across his normally desolate features as he caresses the wool of his prized sheep making it all the more moving as he comes to terms with the heartbreaking of their pending slaughter. As the crabbier estranged brother, Theodór Júlíusson tempers comedic blustering and haphazard nudity with an undercurrent of real hurt and loss. Both are so odd it's easy to understand how they'd connect so much easier with their sheep, but also the ferocious indignation with which they'll protect not only their individual animals, but their livelihood, lifestyle, and family legacy. Rams, in its deliberate primal simplicity, may not offer all the answers to the questions it evokes, but in the hands of such raw,capable performers and the stunning, plaintive Icelandic vistas that Hákonarson films with such reverence, it's a deceptively engaging curiosity, and one worth weathering alongside its farmers. Just keep your clothes on, if at a public screening.-7/10

This is one of those films that makes anyone trying to explain it sound like a pretentious film geek. It's a film out of Iceland believe it or not, that centers around a feud between two brothers that has gone on for more than 40 years. Despite living right next to each other, they never speak. Sending dogs or other people to do it for them if it's a necessity. After one brother, Gummi, loses a ram contest to his brother he gets pretty upset. And naturally, he wants to check the prize winning ram himself. Upon inspection he finds that there is a possibility that it has a disease called Scrapie. Which is a contagious, fatal disease for sheep. From here, each sheep farmer is forced to put down his/her entire livestock to try and eradicate the disease. If this sounds like a documentary to you, don't worry, there is more to this then meets the eye. The first half of the film is driven by it's story while the second by it's characters.Unfortunately for the film, the first half has the only great parts of the movie. It's driven by how this fatal disease is affecting the few people that live there. Showing that killing all the sheep and having to clean every inch of their farms is forced people into bankruptcy. Some are refusing to cooperate, knowing that this could very likely happen to them. While others do as their told and hope for the best.It was incredibly interesting to watch something so simple destroy these peoples lives. While sheep farming may not be something that many of us can relate too, it's the human drama that helps transcend this film into watchable cinema. People being pushed to the edge puts everyone out of their comfort zones and seeing how they react was the most compelling part of the film.But near the half way point, this story is all but forgotten about. After that point the film shifts its focus on the brothers relationship. Both are very stubborn but each have very distinct personalities that the film attempts to profit from. The downside is, the story around the characters for the last forty five minutes is really not that interesting.I have seen the whole family falling out story before and 'Rams' doesn't do anything different with it. They hate each other then a sudden and drastic change rocks their world and forces them together again. It's something that I have seen a million times. This left the remainder of the film with a rather stale, predictable vibe to it.Watching one guy stare with anger at another before going to do nothing is not my idea of an interesting story. It's honestly to bad that this happens because it is actually very beautiful to look at. The cinematography and direction is very impressive. And the films soundtrack is actually really great. But when half of your film is not that great it's hard to see past that. It has good characters, excellent direction, great performances, and an interesting opening half. Yet, when it comes down to its conclusion, the film falls flat. There isn't a whole lot that will keep your interest long enough to distract you from its poor pacing and bland, predictable story.