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Rams centres around two sheep herder brothers – Gummi (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodór Júlíusson), a film based on a story the director’s father told him about two men who fought over a woman, and who eventually left with a third man. There’s no love interest, here, thankfully – as I love to see a film that tells a tale I’ve never seen before.
These two brothers haven’t spoken in 40 years, which is sad, especially given that they both live close to each other on a location as remote as they are, amongst the Icelandic mountains. In fact, they live closer than you think, as they’re next door to each other. Competition rears its ugly head early on, too, as one pips the other to the post in a ‘Best ram’ competition. Alas, tragedy also plays a part as a potential outbreak of scrapie is on the horizon – a disease that affects brains and spinal cords of sheep and is incurable, so if that spreads around the herds, tensions will come to a head.
But where did it come from, when apart from the local villagers, there’s no-one else around for miles?
Rams is a film that’s strangely intriguing but also a must-see. I don’t want to say too much about the plot and what ensues because, while the film doesn’t always work, there’s still much to enjoy in watching everything pan out about two brothers who at sort-of at war, yet clearly care for one another and just can’t admit it. You know they’ll eventually find a reason to come together and resolve their differences, but won’t necessarily be expecting the way it happens.
In addition, I did wonder if they’d thought about using the same actor portraying twins, but then again, characters aren’t twins and it wouldn’t have added anything to it.
And a point about the ending which I’ll hide behind a spoiler banner…
The film is presented in the original 2.35:1 widescreen theatrical ratio and is in 1080p high definition, there’s glorious Icelandic mountainscapes, similar to the stunning wintry look of those in Trapped, plus great direction and a gorgeous accordion-based score that feels other-worldly, since it’s a place that not many people watching this will have visited.
The sound is in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and there’s a very stormy snowstorm late on, which makes wonderful use of the surround sound.
The extras are as follows:
- BFI Q&A with director Grímur Hákonarson (30:45): A very engaging Q&A where we learn the director was once a farmer, too. There are questions about the knitwear, long setups for tracking shots and long takes and how casting the right sheep was more difficult than casting the right actors, because the sheep don’t have their own official website or an agent! 🙂
“Wrestling” – Short film (22:26): A short from 2007, telling of a love story between two gay wrestlers, one a cattle farmer (Einar) and the other a miner (Denni), trying to keep a lid on their relationship because no-one will approve, not least Einar’s wife and daughter.
Trailer (1:28): In the original 2.35:1 ratio, which gives a bit too much away. Best to just watch the film.
The menu features knitwear-based animation, there are subtitles in English and a very low TEN chapters. In addition, Soda Pictures have put some trailers BEFORE the main menu. Please put these in the EXTRAS menu, since otherwise, it makes me feel like we’re back in the days of rental video.
Rams is released tomorrow on Blu-ray and DVD, and click on the packshot for the full-size image.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
7 10 9 3 |
| OVERALL | 7.5 |
Cert: 
Running time: 93 minutes
Year: 2016
Distributor: Soda Pictures
Cat.no: SODA294BDR0
Released: May 30th 2016
Chapters: 10
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: Icelandic
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Arri Alexa (anamorphic lenses))
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Producer: Grímar Jónsson
Screenplay: Grímur Hákonarson
Music: Atli Örvarsson
Cast :
Gummi: Sigurður Sigurjónsson
Kiddi: Theodór Júlíusson
Katrin: Charlotte Bøving
Runólfur: Jon Benonysson
Grímur: Gunnar Jónsson
Sindri: Þorleifur Einarsson
Bjarni: Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson
Eygló: Ingrid Jónsdóttir
Villi: Jörundur Ragnarsson
Finnur: Viktor Már Bjarnason
Tóti: Ólafur Ólafsson
Þórey: Jenný Lára Arnórsdóttir
Hildur: Guðrún Sveinbjörnsdóttir
Beggi Lögga: Þorsteinn Gunnar Bjarnason
Sigga Lögga: Anna Sæunn Ólafsdóttir
Sigurlína: Sigurlína Tryggvadóttir
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.