Bárány

Izgalom nélküli cselekmény és átlátszó alkotói wanna-be art, más fesztiválfilmekből ismert motívumokból és pillanatokból összerakva. Minimális újítás, viszont érezhetően nagyon bízva az észak-izlandi táj hangulatában és Noomi Rapace színészi játékában. (2021.11.07)

What Carax’s Annette is to musicals, Ada is to Icelandic festival films – with everything good, bad, emotional, bizarre, idiosyncratic and conceptual. It thus makes that much more sense to see the film at a festival in a packed screening room and watch the audience’s reaction as they wrestle with the film, ride the wave of tension in the first third, then burst into relieved laughter, through which they paradoxically accede to the rules of this absolutely serious film. (2021.08.20)

The weirdest film I’ve seen lately. Yet so impressive! If I were to sum up the plot of Lamb in one sentence, it might make you facepalm, but the Icelandic atmosphere, the way the story is told and the way we gradually discover what is actually happening… The film has plenty of time to tell its story, and everything is so gradual that it ends up sounding completely natural and normal. If you liked The Witch, you’ll enjoy this one. (2022.02.16)

It is very hard to comprehend and describe this multi-genre movie. The relationship between the characters makes it a strong drama, then there are folkloric fantasy elements, preposterous comedy, complete bizarreness, and an all-pervasive intense feeling of ominous horror. I definitely recommend not finding out too much about the movie’s plot beforehand (preferably nothing), because the surprising twists and "WTF" moments are its strong suit. Those who are not going to get discouraged by the incredibly slow start, and get to the finale, may end up with a rather unique experience that will leave them never being able to look at sheep the same way again. This movie is an interesting spectacle. [KVIFF 2021] (2021.08.25)

Noomi Rapace delivers lambs with her bare hands in this folkloric Icelandic fable that captivates with masterful image compositions featuring animals, but it otherwise falls into the category of pure festival bizarreness that apparently exists only to put viewers on edge and confound their expectations. The theme of the sudden awakening of maternal feelings for an obscure creature/being on a farm in the middle of desolate plains straddles the line between cuteness and perversity. The idea itself is amusing, but in terms of emotional content and discombobulating atmosphere, the similar Scandinavian curiosity Border, for example, is in a completely different league in terms of working with the story, layered motifs and the overall message. (2021.08.24)

Three reasons I had a royally good time, albeit obviously in spite of the movie. And I swear I had them in my head before Béla Tarr's name popped out at me in the closing credits. 1) The first third looks like a parody of The Turin Horse. The very first dialogue, which comes after more than half an hour: "This is a better year." "Why do you think that is?" "The tractor sounds different."  2) The rest of the film looks like a parody of Paddington 3) All this charmingly literal bizarreness is shot in really beautiful imagery. Although you could cynically remark that it is perhaps not technically possible to visually mess up a film set in a sub-highland Icelandic sheepfold. If I learn somewhere that the film is indeed a comedy, as is clearly suggested by the moment when the brother of one of the protagonists sort of bites the bullet out of politeness at their bringing an underage weresheep to the lunch table, but it still bothers him the next scene, I'll go for five. (2022.01.04)