Far North
Director: Asif Kapadia
Cert: 15
Time: 1 hr 29 mins
Ten minutes into this film the phrase “It’s grim up north” came to mind although the north here is Svalbard on the northern tip of Norway and not the gentler climes of Yorkshire. We are following Saiva and Anja, two women struggling to survive in the Arctic tundra after fleeing hostile soldiers. And it is truly grim.
Into their life arrives a wounded soldier (Sean Bean) who is close to death. Against her better judgement Saiva spares him and together with Anja they nurse him back to health. But his presence disturbs the relationship between the two women. Meanwhile a series of flashbacks reveal the horrific events that forced Saiva into her nomadic existence.
This is by any stretch is a strange film, not helped by the lack of context into which the viewer is thrust. Furthermore dialogue is sparse and at times stilted prompting an over reliance on atmospheric views and lingering shots of actors emoting, to convey feeling. Bean too appears uncomfortable as a passive warrior. That said the bleak and rarely seen landscape is beautifully portrayed and whatever the limitations of the tale one remains enthralled as to how it is all going to end. Which it does, in the most dramatic and disturbing fashion.
Rating: 2.5/5
Patrons: 11
CA
