Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands, and sometimes that means taking out forlorn power lines over and over again like in Woman at War.
The titular woman is trying to protect the highlands of Iceland from industrial development, a worthy but lonely task she is hell-bent on achieving. Problem is that the government is backing industry (of course), pitting her against increasingly elaborate countermeasures that require her to up her game. It’s an ostensibly silly match-up, but if caught she could face severe punishment. Oh, and she’s about to adopt a child, because her life isn’t complicated enough already.
The blending of the serious and the silly that this trailer implies would make Woman at War a natural follow-up to director Benedikt Erlingsson’s festival hit Of Horses and Men. Woman at War has done well in its own right on the festival circuit, having premiered at Cannes to rave reviews. Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in particular was singled out for excelling at the complicated main role, handling the twists and escalations of the plot while never getting bogged down in the drama.
Despite missing out on an Oscar nomination (it was Iceland’s foreign language submission), the film is still being trotted out worldwide, giving everyone the opportunity to see this offbeat film.
Woman at War is directed by Benedikt Erlingsson and stars Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Davíð Þór Jónsson, and Magnús Trygvason. It will be released in the US on March 1st, 2019 and in the UK on May 3rd, 2019. For international release dates, click here.
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