Godland

Elliott Crosset Hove in Godland

Hlynur Palmason's Godland tells of a Danish minister sent on a mission to a remote part of Iceland in order to establish a parish. The first half of the film details the arduous overland journey that the priest named Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) endures and barely survives. Lucas is a nascent photographer who wants to document the sights and people he encounters, but he soon learns that he is unprepared for the harsh conditions he experiences. Furthermore, he is estranged from the natives, particularly his guide Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson) , separated by a language barrier and a vast cultural divide. In the 19th century, the era of the film, Iceland was still under rule by Denmark; it did not gain its independence until 1918. Even when Lucas reaches his destination, he is unmoored and fails to fit in with the community. This leads to tragic consequences.

Palmason is more adept at crafting tableau than in choreographing action. This is not fatal to a film in which man is a speck of dust compared to the vastness and fearsomeness of nature. The film has some of the most spectacular cinematography of recent vintage and it must have been a very challenging shoot for the cast and crew. There are no poor performances, but characterization is somewhat secondary in a yarn that seizes upon mythic archetypes to picture man's dominion as extremely small in the natural order.