Film No. 21 (2016) Rams March 27th.

Film No. 21 (2016) March 27th.  8.00 PM THE PINES Outdoor Cinema Joondalup. (Part of Perth Film Festival 2015/16)

"In order to eliminate the disease they're going to have to take the whole valley" (The voice of authority explains the necessary procedures to gain the required agricultural outcome). 
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"A simple, understated snippet of Icelandic rural life", was a sentence used to sum up this Perth Film Festival offering. I'm inclined to agree on the understated front but to describe Rams as simple is to err on the side of flippancy when it comes to the family matters portrayed in this film.


Sheep are some of the players in this film, but it is the pair of head butting rams, the feuding brothers Gummi (Sigurour Sigurjonsson) and Kiddi (Theodor Jullusson), who control the tempo of this drama. We learn a little of why these brothers live 200 metres apart and have failed to speak to one another for 40 years. The brother's only means of communication is notes couriered by a sheepdog. They share the family farm but herd separate flocks of sheep. They are the best breeders in the district as is reflected in the annual district contest in an early scene. 


The opening scenes subtly project the silliness of the "boys" feud as they jostle for minor supremacy over small matters. The only soundtrack is the cold damp air whistling around their ears. Once Gummi detects the sheep equivalent of foot and mouth disease, scrapie, in his brother's flock the drama unfurls. Gummi has to report his findings knowing that if indeed it is scrapie then the consequences for the whole valley are dire.


I can't recall an Icelandic film I've seen previously. Effective film festivals choose cinema which allows we lovers of film to journey into unfamiliar worlds to experience emotions common to the human condition. Rams is another example of well chosen festival fare. A cold war amongst family members is common world wide, the secret is, how much adversity does it take before an olive branch is presented? Rams presents one answer to that question. 9GUMS.