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.
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.