Rams (2016)

the audience applauded

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Overrated and overhyped

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

As a knitter, I was drawn to this movie because of the Icelandic sweaters and the sheep. I expected it to be some kind of silly comedy about sibling rivalry in a remote clime and thought I'd watch a few minutes just to look at the sweaters. Instead, I wandered into a riveting tale of duty and survival in very harsh conditions and humans who demonstrate an unfailing fortitude in dealing with overwhelming circumstances. This is actually a tale about farmers dealing with the injustice of Scrapie affecting their village (this alone would have drawn me to this movie). The cinematography was rich and I was not disappointed in the authentic Icelandic sweaters that evoked the picturesque backdrop. Well acted, beautifully filmed, and certainly worth watching.

The film is laconic, atmospheric, calm, cold, bright, beautiful, artistic drama about love and hate of two brothers. From the very first second this Icelandic breathtaking cold atmosphere is longing throughout the whole film till the last second. Without any doubts, people who are not used to this type of films, who are not used to spend time looking deeper for protagonists characters, for them it will look a bit slow, as the story line is developing slowly but all the developments are in details, short conversations. Each picture is saying something, as for example as one of the brothers is reading a book next to the Rams what shows how much he loves his animals and spends long time with them. Film almost does not contain close-ups, its always middle shots and wide shots. Especially the views of mountains are amazing. Music is originally written for the film what is the best choice as it fits perfectly the way it is, it makes look picture very deep and emotional. Director has used TV and a radio as a very good tool to show that world lives with global bad news but private life does not touch or interest anybody else. Main characters are absolute opposite. One is calm and quiet but another one is more active with temperament. They have not spoken for 40 years and film does not explain why, but I think that is the idea, they don't know themselves. Director clearly wants to show with this film that these situations are not the best and you should love your family members, as at the end they are the ones who you can trust. It somehow shows that these people are mirroring character of the animal they love. Stubbornness and careless. Any kind of unhappiness always brings something positive. As it happens to the brothers and shows that human being is much more important than anything else. For me personally it was very emotional and open ending just fascinated me. I would recommend this film to people who love unusual stories, dark and deep atmospheric environment and who would just like to think about what is priorities in their life as we all have it different....or the same?

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.

The family drama is an elastic genre label that is used when nothing else fits. It is an odd label for RAMS (2015), an endearing tale of an unconventional family consisting of two estranged brothers and their rams who live on adjacent farms in Iceland. They have not spoken for 40 years, are fiercely competitive with their prize-winning rams, and sometimes communicate via dog-carried notes or bullets through a window. They love their rams like kinfolk, pet them, kiss them and clearly are devoted shepherds. While the outside world buzzes with social and digital media innovation, life goes on for brothers Gummi and Kiddi as it has for generations amidst the harsh natural beauty of rural Iceland. Their fractious but largely peaceful co-existence is shattered when a highly contagious disease is discovered in the flock and local authorities decree that all must be destroyed.The story itself is not the point of RAMS. Rather it is an immersive insight into life on an Icelandic farm told through sensitive cinematography and understated storytelling. The vast space across rugged wind-swept landscapes have a brutal beauty and enter our viewing space with a chill you can feel. Long camera takes and even longer silences are expressions about the brothers lives in an environment untouched by modernity, with quirky Icelandic wit to brighten a muted colour palette of white and grey. The musical score erupts expressively to accentuate moments of humour, sadness and hope, often with just a few single dramatic piano chords. The scenes where beloved stock must be destroyed brought audible sniffles across my cinema. Through adversity, the brothers are forced to rely on each other and in the process renew something that should not have been lost so long ago.As an independent film RAMS is free to roam wherever its directorial and storytelling intentions choose and this results in a refreshingly different movie experience. Many will wonder why it has been so highly lauded because the pace is glacially slow, the actors are more like cameo characters, and some will find the concept of loving animals like family a bit weird. But others will see the primal relationship of shepherd to land and flock, be touched by the love that surfaces from under decades of sibling discord, and enjoy an old fashioned story about farm life in a hostile place. The ending is poignant, ambivalent, and a metaphor for the triumph of love and family.