No. 62 (2021) THE COUNTY (HERADID) Palace; Scandinavian Film Festival JULY 31st.

 

Film No. 62 (2021)  July 31st.  4:15 PM   Cinema 5   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"You will all know I wrote an article the other day about corruption in the CO-OP." (Inga addresses the committee of farmers about addressing issues related to the cooperative they all depend upon).

The Icelandic Writer/Director Grimur Hakonarson, who brought us RAMS (2015), brings into focus, once again, the cold starkness of a wind-swept farming landscape. This time his theme centres on people banging heads over issues of moral rights and wrongs. HERADID has less of the pig-headedness of the RAMS script and focuses more on the resilience of the human spirit.  

Dairy farmers Reynir (Hinrik Olafsson) and Inga (Arndis Hronn Egilsdottir) work to live. The local district Co-op controls their income. They fit in with the status quo. It's what they've always done. So when tragedy strikes and Inga is left to cope with the financial mess that is their farming business, she has the will and temperament to seek change. That change, she hopes, will be for all the farmers of her County.

Hakonarson does not cut any new ground here, but he does give an insight into another country's business edict. In the same way unions became a force for workers to gain better conditions for workers, Co-ops in the farming counties of Iceland were formed to give fair prices to farmers for their produce. Over time Co-ops gained power beyond their station. They forgot who they really worked for. They systematically screwed farmers down on margin.

Inga is "David" and the Co-op "Goliath". And while there are outcomes to this battle that are predictable, Inga's final destiny is realistically inevitable. She is our hero and Hakonarson treats her with absolute dignity. HERADID is realism played out on the farming plains of Iceland. The story is worth telling and the message is strong. I enjoyed the trip into a farming culture I knew nothing about. 9GUMS.