Woman at War – Kona fer í stríð (2018)

Directed by: Benedikt Erlingsson | 101 minutes | action, thriller, comedy, drama | Actors: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, Juan Camillo Roman Estrada, Jörundur Ragnarsson, Helga Braga Jónsdóttir, Vala Kristin Eiriksdottir, Margaryta Hilska, Þórhildur Ingunn, Haraldur Stefansson

Iceland is a modern western country with an almost mythological, inhospitable landscape. When music teacher Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) sets out with a bow and arrow to defuse high-voltage cables as an ‘eco-terrorist’, it feels like a flight in time, a symbolic act of the gods. It becomes comical, because it looks so hypothermic and the bow and arrow are staged as a kind of stage props, in nature that has been colonized by man, but still overwhelms.

‘Woman at War’ is filmed as if it were a sitcom in the tundra – subdued Scandinavian. But genre interpretation is actually meaningless: Vikings will understand the humor better, outsiders will be more likely to be gripped by amazement about the national character or the character of the company. Yet the film looks conventional and that rubs off a bit, as if Benedikt Erlingsson (‘Of Horses and Men’) hesitates to make a completely unique film, and seeks connection with an audience.

Which audience? Surely the arthouse crowd will be drawn to a Cannes film submitted for the Oscars, and feel-good – dry-comedy eco-feel-good in this case – is a risk with such a serious subject. The staged fanfare embedded as an organic soundtrack is a style element, as is Halla’s sister’s yoga class and the Mandela mask Halla uses. Does Erlingsson want to jump on the ‘As it is in Heaven’ train? Is it satire? Didn’t all have to.

The characters are also stylized. Even Hella remains a character from Tower C; lead actress Geirharðsdóttir looks like a dramatically gifted actress in a committed comedy, and that’s about it. Story-wise, after a spectacular start, the film has a hard time getting started, but it remains fairly entertaining due to the situational set-up. Erlingsson, however, has taken too much freedom of choice to steer his film in an inescapable direction, so that the settlement only gives cerebral satisfaction.