Written and directed by Grímur Hákonarson (Summerland) and starring Sigurður Sigurjónsson (Under the Glacier; City State; Spooks and Spirits; Devil's Island), Theodór Júlíusson (Angels of the Universe; The Deep; The Viking Sagas) and Charlotte Bøving (Everest; The One and Only).
Drama, 93 minutes, in Icelandic
A tale set in a remote Icelandic farming community featuring two brothers, Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodór Júlíusson) who both farm sheep but who have not spoken to each other in 40 years.
They both enter a sheep in a local competition, with one coming first and the other second. Later that evening, Gummi (who came second) believes that his brother's prize-winning sheep has contracted scrapie, a fatal, degenerative disease that affects the nervous systems of sheep. This could spell disaster for the local farming community, but he informs the local vet, Katrin (Charlotte Bøving), who orders all the sheep in the valley to be slaughtered, as well as stored feed. It is now likely that the farmers will have no animals for two years. This is almost a death sentence for the farmers for whom sheep are their livelihood.
The film explores the feelings in the community and, most particularly, the relationship between the two brothers. It manages to combine humour with stark reality, with the haunting scenery providing an atmospheric backdrop to the goings-on in the valley. It has some wonderful moments, including Gummi beckoning Kiddi's dog to relay a message to his brother, a form of rural postmaster.
The two brothers react in very different ways, yet it is in doing so that their relationship changes.
