Reviewed by Sunchica Unevska
Towards “Lamb”, directed by Valdimar Johansson, screenplay: Sjon and Valdimar Johansson, starring: Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Sner Gudnason, Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson, cinematography: Eli Ahrenson, editing: Agnieszka Glinska, Iceland/Poland/Sweden/ 2021
Nature always comes after its own
The Icelandic film “Lamb” is, definitely, one of the most unusual films of the past year. It really takes a lot of courage for a debutante, like Valdimar Johansson, to tackle such a specific, controversial and bizarre topic, while bringing in such a subtly made drama, that upsets on the one hand, but on the other hand, opens up a number of topics. It is even confusing when you see with what simplicity and “ease” he approaches this surreal world, to show reality with all its power. Because, “Lamb” is a film that with its frightening “normality” enters somehow deep, making you think and look for the essence, which he doesn’t aspire to at all, at least not emphasized.
A film in which the lives of people and animals are intertwined is not something new, especially in terms of storytelling, especially in terms of legends and myths, and even those tales that we read to children, which are full of such metaphors and messages. Namely, while watching this unusual Icelandic film, it somehow imposes itself, you say to yourself that it is surely an Icelandic fairytale that talks about family, love, good and bad, crossing borders and the punishment that certainly follows, if natural laws are not obeyed. After all, children see it all through play, even when there are scary scenes, but they only awaken the child's imagination and, of course, always end with a message that brings the righteous world, and the consequences seem not so severe, especially that the evil people in them deserve it.
Yes, “Lamb” could to enter in one of those categories, like a fairytale, but when it is understood as a fantasy or even better as a phantasmagoria, but if you aspire to life in it, it is something else. Maria and Ingvar are a seemingly ordinary couple who live in isolation in the beautiful, but also wild Icelandic landscapes. Somehow, that cruelty of nature fits perfectly with their simple and difficult life, which is dominated by natural laws, because otherwise you couldn’t survive. Their behavior devoid of emotions and any pathos, seems normal and fantastically compatible with the silence, the sounds of the sharp wind, the atmosphere of coldness and distance, which you accept quite logically. Their life comes down to a struggle with nature, although through the few dialogues, when they talk about time, you see in them the satisfaction and reconciliation with everyday life, regardless of the fact that sadness and the desire for things to be different, or at least as they were, pass invisibly and unobtrusively.
However, when nature plays with them or they with it, and when a living creature arrives in their home, which is neither human nor lamb, things will take a completely different course. On the one hand, the colors, emotions, hope and longing will suddenly change, but on the other hand, in those natural laws you will see the greatest cruelty intertwined with love, when the mother without any hesitation will try in any way to get rid of the real mother. How much do we really think that our happiness or destiny belongs to us and that we have a right to it at any cost, even if we violate the laws of nature. It does not matter if it's okay or not, at least not for the one who will finally find his happiness or believe that it is a gift to which he is simply entitled, without thinking about hurting the other. Yes, we are talking about animals here, but how else to divide the living world, how differently, except as the old or wise narrators did in the stories that are passed down from generation to generation, or in the stories written in the most beautiful fairytales.
What does beautiful mean? Is there only beauty in beautiful fairytales or is it always accompanied by evil and cruelty, so that in the end goodness wins or we realize that happiness comes only if we are honest and righteous towards all living beings. After all, it is no coincidence that these wonderful stories as a metaphor always take all living beings on the planet, not coincidentally so with myths and legends, which cross the boundaries of fantasy believing in the surreal, which essentially offers reality in every way. Does nature really know how to take revenge or it just warn us of the revenge that comes in the order of things, of that balance that must not be disturbed, because the consequences are inevitable.
It is interesting how much this debut author manages (even in spite of the horror elements and that silent threat constantly hanging over) to paint this whole story of love, family, belonging, obsession, the need for happiness and fulfillment, regardless of the price, it is remarkable how it changes colors, moods and atmosphere, how it speaks through the frame with very little dialogue. It must be said that in these incredibly suggestive (and scary) images you can recognized the style of Johansson's mentor, the great Hungarian author Bella Tarr, but there is another point here, that is Johansson's skill in special effects, which is his specialty. What is fascinating, in fact, is the way it “hides” those effects, because they are not what we are used to, they are effects that can imperceptibly enter your soul and bring that atmosphere of excitement when you get the much desired child, but at the same time the frightening atmosphere imposed by the behavior of those who love unconditionally. To those who are ready for anything just to keep what they think belongs to them, that atmosphere when you feel that nature is only seemingly tame, because just like those who seek their happiness, it seeks its harmony and balance.
Namely, as the saying goes, you can’t build your happiness on someone else's misfortune, regardless of the price and regardless of the disturbance of harmony. You can’t believe that you have the right to be gods, when you really love and when you are ready for any sacrifice. After all, what is it that belongs to us and by what right do we believe that nature is here for us, and not us for her. She knows how to give us selflessly, but how far is the limit??
The way which the author approaches this story is really fascinating. There is nothing aggressive in it, there is nothing “strange”, there is no overacting or drama, but the seemingly unusual becomes so common. This Icelandic couple finally gets what they long for so much, that everything becomes normal and possible. But, is that so, is our happiness and fulfillment more important than anything else, even the destruction of the natural balance which enables us to live? So say the fairytales, you can never go unpunished. In fact, it should be so, although in the reality we live in, there is hardly anything left of that so logical and wise children's world, which we seem to be forgetting more and more.
But, fairytales were written by people with all their wisdom learned over the years, so no matter how much we forget it, it can remind us in the least expected way of the laws that we break so ruthlessly. To those fairytales that we want to see as something that is unreal and part of some grandparents' stories, which only scare small children... No, Johansson's film plays with that, in other words, it makes us wonder in which direction the play goes, where is the reality, and where is the storytelling, where is the responsibility, and where is the empathy, where is the justice of this world, if we persistently want to believe that we are the ones who have the right to write it, as it suits us. However, it seems, nature always comes after its own. Namely, the game continues, how much the truths of life are written in all those wisdoms, and even more how much those wisdoms can really come from the surreal to the real world. Judging by the new beginning of this Icelandic couple, which is as surreal as it is normal, then it seems that the boundaries between the normal and the real have long since shifted.
Comments