Once again a debut film, Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men (Hross I Oss, shown out of competition, produced by acclaimed Icelandic producer and filmmaker Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, who was a member of this year FFM’s jury) is a piece that is very difficult to write about... Why? Because it is one of those rare films that have to be seen in order to be properly experienced. Or, probably because this is not just a great piece – this is a masterpiece!
It’s a true excitement when you can feel from the very beginning that you’re witnessing something completely new, in both content and form, especially in art-house cinema cuisine so much indoctrinated with mere form / concept / context. Erlingsson’s absolutely wondrous movie, skillfully intertwine several stories of inhabitants of a remote, small Icelandic village in the mountains by the sea (and one Mexican tourist), from the standpoint of their horses (!). Horses, whether as one of all time favorite symbols in top-notch art-house European cinema (like in works of Tarkovsky and Wajda, or Trear and Tarr), or obligatory extras in American westerns, have finally reached here the level of true characters, with their good traits, but also bad ones, just like any horse might have. In just 80 minutes, Of Men and Horses speaks about concealing emotions and instincts, pride and prejudice, hypocrisy and alcoholism, greed and love... and sure, unfortunately, shooting horses.
Witty and delicate at the same time, this aesthetically beautiful movie completely overwhelms the audience with its fast shifting (done in simply magical way) from brutal to gentle, from realistic to surreal... working as a profound metaphor while offering sort of unique ritual experience. Finally, what probably struck us the most is the purity of Erlingsson’s so genuine style. Groundbreaking!
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