THE COUNTRY
(12A, 92mins) Streaming from today on Curzon Home Cinema
THE Archers meets Erin Brockovich in an engaging Icelandic drama from Grímur Hákonarson.
While the writer-director’s previous film Rams found offbeat comedy and touching drama in the story of a pair of warring shepherd brothers, here he dials up the tension with a story about a feisty, whistle-blowing dairy farmer.
Exhausted middle-aged couple Inga (Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir) and Reynir (Hinrik Ólafsson) are struggling to keep their heads above water.
Their dairy farm has been in the family for generations but their new robotic milking station isn’t making enough to cover expenses with the local co-operative.
When Inga proposes they buy their fertiliser online for a much cheaper price, a sullen Reynir refuses to discuss it. For decades, the co-operative has bought all the farmers’ milk. In return, farmers are expected to buy all their supplies from their dealers.
Although Reynir’s sullen demeanour suggests he isn’t sticking to the agreement out of loyalty...
After he is killed when his truck mysteriously goes off the road, Inga discovers that he had been covering up the extent of their debts.
She is set to declare bankruptcy when she discovers a dark secret about her husband’s dealings with co-op boss Eyjólfur (Sigurður
Sigurjónsson. Inga is incensed and vows to smash the co-operative, who she compares to the Mafia in a furious Facebook post which is picked up by a local journalist.
What follows is a David vs Goliath battle between a plucky, muck-splattered outsider and double-dealing, self-serving bureaucrats in suits.
I suspect that Hákonarson is speaking to the national character of the Icelanders, but this flame-haired warrior could awaken theViking in us all.