GODLAND

The late nineteenth century, Iceland is Danish territory. The young Lutheran priest Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) is sent from Denmark to a remote stretch of land in the south-east of the island to build a church there and photograph its inhabitants. He travels overland with Icelandic porters, an interpreter and the guide Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson), who distrusts the Dane and does not speak Lucas’s language. On arrival, Lucas is taken in by Carl and his daughters Anna and Ida – and gradually loses his mission, his order and his morality. “Godland” by Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland, 2022) tells of a man to whom the land looms larger than his god.

Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason shot on 35mm in the near-square Academy ratio; the starting point was – according to the opening caption – seven wet-plate photographs by a Danish priest, which Pálmason invented himself. Cinematographer Maria von Hausswolff composes in centred, still frames, and interstitial images mark the changing seasons. The film is bilingual, in Danish and Icelandic. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes in 2022; the Gold Hugo in Chicago followed later, and it was Iceland’s Oscar submission. “Godland” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2022.

Shown at the 2022 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2022 · Film Archive