Of Horses and Men

Of Horses and Men

Film poster
Directed by Benedikt Erlingsson
Produced by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
Written by Benedikt Erlingsson
Starring Helgi Björnsson
Release dates
  • 28 August 2013 (2013-08-28)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country Iceland
Language Icelandic

Of Horses and Men (Icelandic: Hross í oss) is a 2013 Icelandic drama film written and directed by Benedikt Erlingsson and produced by fellow director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[1][2] but it was not nominated. The film won the 2014 Nordic Council Film Prize.

Plot

In the remote Icelandic valley, there is not much to do other than observe the horses, the neighbors, and the neighbors' horses with binoculars. Undisturbed, the stallions and mares do what nobody else in the valley dares to even talk about: love. However, there is still a feeling of love among some of the valley dwellers. Kolbeinn (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson) and Solveig's (Charlotte Bøving) attempts at love are the subject of much interest for the valley dwellers.

Meanwhile, Vernhardur (Steinn Ármann Magnússon), who has a weakness for whiskey, makes a name for himself on a Russian fishing vessel with the sailor Gengis (Kash Erden Baater). There is often disagreement about the riding routes between Grimur (Kjartan Ragnarsson) and Egill (Helgi Björnsson); Grimur generally prefers the classic routes, whereas Egill prefer riding through rough terrain. Jóhanna (Sigríður María Egilsdóttir), on the other hand, has nothing to say concerning her stallion Raudka. One day, she encounters an injured man. The religious Juan Camillo (himself) is seeking God on a high spiritual level.

Above all, all the people in the valley share a mutual love of their horses, and eventually come to understand one another.

Cast

Reception

Robbie Collin described Of Horses and Men as a "collection of six-or-so interlocking fables about a group of rural Icelanders’ relationships with their horses and each other, and which run the gamut from stony-black comedies of sex and death to chilly meditations on the blind cruelty of fate." He gave it four stars out of five and called it "something truly and seductively strange" and "tenderly attuned to the weather and landscape, both of which are captured in you-could-almost-be-there vividness, and underscored by a heady swirl of choral works and primal drumming."[3]

The film holds a 100% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews with an average rating of 7.61 out of 10.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Oscars: Iceland Nominates 'Of Horses and Men' for Foreign Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Of Horses and Men selected for the 2014 Oscars". News of Iceland. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Collin, Robbie (29 October 2013). "Of Horses and Men, Tokyo International Film Festival, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  4. ↑ "Of Horses and Men (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
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