Film Notes

Cannes Film Review: ‘Woman at War’

A delightful follow-up to “Of Horses and Men” about a modest environmental activist determined to bring down heavy industry one electric pylon at a time.

Is there anything rarer than an intelligent feel-good film that knows how to tackle urgent global issues with humor as well as a satisfying sense of justice? Look no further than “Woman at War,” Benedikt Erlingsson’s gloriously Icelandic (for lack of a better adjective), near-perfect follow-up to “Of Horses and Men,” featuring an environmental activist modestly taking on the world, one electric pylon at a time. Commentators will be tumbling over themselves trying to define what kind of movie this is: comedy, musical, social drama, politically correct issue film. It’s all those except the last; political correctness implies one-dimensional preaching that narrowly cuts off conversations, whereas, whereas “Woman at War” deftly centralizes a profound humanity from which vital issues are comfortably suspended. Bound to be one of the hot sellers at this year’s Cannes, the film is likely to do bang-up business worldwide.

“Of Horses and Men” deliciously played with narrative conventions even as it astonished with pictorial surprises that continue to induce smiles five years later. Erlingsson’s sophomore feature tells a more straightforward story yet here too he invents unexpected visual pleasures, in the form of three musicians (Davíð Þór Jónsson, Magnús Trygvason Eliasen, Ómar Guðjónsson) and three Ukrainian singers (Iryna Danyleiko, Galyna Goncharenko, Susanna Karpenko) who appear in key moments on screen as melodic commentators, fellow conspirators, and sympathetic bystanders offering accompaniment to some of the action. Their appearances pierce through the fourth wall in ways that respect both the characters and the audience, which is just one of numerous delightful feats in this mature crowd-pleaser.

In town, Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is a popular 49-year-old choir director, her sun-filled smile warming everyone she meets. In the countryside, she’s what the press have nicknamed “Mountain Woman,” an anonymous figure using a potent bow and arrow to bring down power lines in a one-woman crusade against heavy industry. The only one who knows her identity is Baldvin (Jörundur Ragnarsson), a chorus member and official in the ministry who’s been helping out with information but is getting extra nervous as the government backlash grows now that the Chinese are reconsidering their investment in Iceland.

It’s just now that a letter arrives telling Halla that her application for adopting a child from Ukraine has been accepted, and while it’s not an ideal moment, she’s overjoyed that her dreams of motherhood will finally be realized. Identical twin sister Ása (also played by Geirharðsdóttir) is delighted for her sibling, though she’s just agreed to join an ashram in India for two years. Pairing these two together seems like such an obvious script gimmick, yet apart from the eternally amusing conceit of identical twin sisters on film, the yin-and-yang works perfectly: Both idealists, Halla looks to save the world, while Ása looks for inner fulfillment.

After Halla drops leaflets around town declaring her environmental motivations, the government begins a spin war to win public opinion, unleashing commentators on the media while increasing the manhunt. Worth singling out among many marvelous sequences is a scene when Halla walks down the street, glimpsing TVs through one window after another, all of them blaring official propaganda that then melds into chatter-like music as she quickens her pace, becoming all the more determined to take a final stand against industry before heading to Ukraine and picking up her adopted daughter. Helping her escape capture is sheep farmer Sveinbjörn (Jóhann Sigurðarson), a classically Icelandic character whose gruff exterior can’t disguise his compassionate nature.

Thematically, “Woman at War” sounds so easy: a righteous topic, a sense of solidarity for the things that count, a satisfying stand by one woman against the powerful forces of industry. Erlingsson’s genius lies in how he puts it all together with such witty intelligence, arranging beautifully shot picaresque episodes around a central figure who lives the ideals of the heroes she has hanging on her wall, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The adoption subtheme is a crucial element in it all, as it concretizes her role as mother and caretaker, one small country, one small child at a time.

Grounding everything is Geirharðsdóttir’s splendid performance(s), fleshing out Halla’s character as a grassroots Robin Hood with warmth and quiet determination. Juan Camillo Roman Estrada makes a welcome comeback from “Of Horses and Men” as a luckless Spanish-speaking tourist whose foreign-ness makes him an instant target of police suspicion in the insular Icelandic countryside. All three musicians, playing piano, accordion, trumpet, tuba and percussion, contrast detached yet supportive glances with an almost organic presence in each of their scenes, while the Ukrainian singing trio, on the one hand out of place, lend a sense of global cohesion with their distinctive harmonies.

As he did with Erlingsson’s previous feature, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson again proves himself a master of capturing the tranquil beauty of the Icelandic landscape, ultra-sensitive to lighting (color grading is also superb) and the joys of the unexpected. When Sveinbjörn gently immerses Halla in a hot spring, shown from above on camera, it’s hard not to have a similar feeling of relief, and when she lies her face down in the flowering undergrowth, we enjoy a similar connection to nature. Sound design is also flawless.   

Jay Weissberg, Variety, 13th May 2018.

Woman at War review – the mother of all green goddesses. Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir is brilliant in this jet-black comedy about a woman fighting to save the planet and adopt a child at the same time.

To describe Benedikt Erlingsson’s sense of humour as “dry” is a bit like saying that things can get “chilly” as we get up towards the Arctic circle. Having conquered the theatre stages and TV screens of Iceland as a writer, director and performer, Erlingsson turned to feature films in 2013, where his brand of deadpan tragicomic humour once again struck a national nerve. His directorial feature debut, Of Horses and Men, earned several Icelandic academy Edda awards as it veered from quirky observation to bleak contemplation via a string of arrestingly surreal vignettes including an accidental human/equine three-way, and the sight of someone being pulled out of the body of a frozen horse.

Like its dramatic predecessor, Erlingsson’s latest offering was Iceland’s official submission for the foreign language film Oscar, although it once again failed to make the shortlist. (To date, Children of Nature by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, who produced Of Horses and Men, remains Iceland’s only nomination in this category.) Yet amid the jet-black comedy of Woman at War, which takes as its catastrophic subject matter the despoliation of planet Earth, there is a warmth, wit and wisdom that transcend national and cultural boundaries, making this a truly universal treat.

We open amid the breathtaking beauty of rural Iceland, spectacularly captured by cinematographer Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, who worked such strange magic on Of Horses and Men. Here, an eco-warrior battling big industries under her “Mountain Woman” alias fires an arrow over a power line, causing electricity cuts and short-circuiting government plans to build a new aluminium smelter. This is Halla, a bike-riding environmental guerrilla, magnificently played by Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, who combines the athletic physicality of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt with the kaleidoscopic character depth and subtlety of Liv Ullmann or Greta Garbo.

When not secretly holding heartless industrialists to ransom, Halla leads a local choir, producing harmonious songs that offer a choral counterpoint to the increasingly discordant strains of modern life. But along with saving mother Earth, Halla is also in the process of attempting to adopt a child, a lengthy procedure brought to an unexpected head when a Ukrainian orphan finds herself in dire need of a home. Can Halla continue to wage environmental war while taking on the mantle of loving mother? Or will the authorities catch up with her clandestine activities before she gets to fulfil her dreams?

Aware of the “festival favourite” label that was attached to Of Horses and Men, Erlingsson has sardonically described Woman at War as a “mainstream blockbuster story for everyone kind of film… a heroic tale set in our world of imminent threat”. It’s a playful description of a subversive romp that splendidly overturns action-movie cliches, putting a DIY twist on Mission: Impossible riffs, presenting its life-or-death struggles in thrillingly offbeat fashion.

Erlingsson cites real-life environmentalists such as Berta Cáceres and Yolanda Maturana as inspirational figures, but his story has a more mythic feel, incorporating fable-like elements casting Halla as Artemis, Greek goddess of the wilderness. That timeless theme is brilliantly emphasised by Erlingsson’s adventurous use of on-screen musicians, whose incidental accompaniments serve as a kind of Greek chorus, mediating between the action and the audience. There’s a circus-like element to the three-piece band that follows Halla on her quest, drums, accordion and sousaphone at the ready. Like escapees from the 2015 documentary The Show of Shows (which Erlingsson made in conjunction with Sheffield’s National Fairground and Circus Archive), this rag-tag band seems to embody the sound of Halla’s warrior instincts. In contrast to its tense, rhythmic alarums, a keening Ukrainian choir offers melancholy counterpoint, instruments and voices (male and female respectively) dramatising the different elements of our heroine’s divided soul. How fitting that Halla should have a twin sister, further emphasising her dual nature.

While Erlingsson acknowledges the theatrical effect of seeing out-of-context instruments played on rooftops and mountainsides, or finding colourfully head-dressed singers serenading characters on lonely roads, there’s actually nothing distancing or alienating about this dramatic device. On the contrary, I found myself drawn deeper into Halla’s world by the presence of her muses, becoming even more immersed in her mission as nail-biting tension dances with absurdist invention.

Geirharðsdóttir commands the screen throughout, but she receives significant support from Jóhann Sigurðarson as Sveinbjörn, the gruffly avuncular sheep farmer who lives alone with his dog, Woman. In a country where practically everyone is a cousin, Sveinbjörn forges a unexpected bond with Halla, one that is as moving and embracing as this weirdly beautiful film itself.

Mark Kermode, The Observer, 5th May 2019.

What you thought about Woman at War (Kona fer í stríð)

Film Responses

Collated Response Comments

92 people joined us for Woman at War - we hoping you're enjoying being back in person as much as we are. Let us know if you have any thoughts or comments on the safety measures we've adopted.

The comments from this screening are below:

"Liked the intelligent, funny, dramatic mixture in this film; loved the wonderful views of Iceland. But most of all what a striking portrait of a woman facing several deep-seated motivations and loyalties. Can she fight for her beliefs, keep her identity hidden from the authorities, while ostensibly living a normal life in the meantime? Eluding capture despite increasingly daring exploits, did wonder how far Halla may take things if she would take things too far; can you be an outlaw and still keep a 'domestic' life going. We're positioned to like Halla, yet she is also fiercely passionate about a cause and does what she can to make Iceland a better country and not hurt anyone in the process. She carries much of the film, manages to make it look easy. Liked the range of the tone of the film - serious to silly, with the smiles and stress of our hero possibly being caught. Those surreal touches, like pop-up musicians only Halla can see, strengthen the movie's politics a playful, fairy-tale – but a movie with a poignant thread for the present. Hooray for showing it - and let's have more!"

"Made me want to become an peaceful eco warrior! Loved the rural Icelandic scenes as well as the quirky musicians and singers which fitted so well with the storyline. I'd even be so bold as to say I would happily watch it again!"

"Eat your heart out Quentin, this is how you make a post-modern, punchy, funny, affecting action movie, referencing the classics, that makes an important point without seeming preachy or overly earnest (or in your case far too long). This is superb, the director doesn't miss a trick producing a pacy, vital film in his own style while nodding to genre staples, affectionately tongue in cheek: Stunning landscape (echoes of Ford and Hawks), 'Rambo' and muscular action movies in general, 'North by Northwest' and other Hitchcock, 'Apocalypse Now', etc. He manages the tricky tonal shifts with the lightest of touches which, given the wide scope of humour, action, human interest and message, is no mean feat. The Greek chorus, which initially just seems like a nice joke, is very cleverly used to the point where Halla realises something is up at the airport because they're there. This supreme balancing act achieved without ever once losing narrative drive, the troubled humanity of the beautifully sketched characters or leaning too hard on the message. The end is similarly graceful following the affecting union of Halla and Nika with the reminder that, satisfying as this may be, all is still not well with the world as they have to wade toward the airport. Brilliant. IF GFS show a better film than this this season I will be astonished (and I say this knowing we have 'A matter fo life and death' to come. There is no greater praise)."

"Excellent film, just the sort of film I come to GFS for. Really well executed balance in portraying serious issues (climate crisis, but also explosion of surveillance, unchecked power of big business, inadequate/corrupt politicians, etc) with humour, pathos, wit and quirkiness but never undermining the seriousness. The actors playing Halla and her "probable cousin" were both excellent. Also enjoyed the use of the musicians, seemingly random at first and then being more integrated to the developing story. And then just when you think it will be the perfect "Hollywood" ending with Halla collecting her new child, the film is not afraid to take you back to a rather harsher reality (will they dare keep that ending in the US remake I wonder...)"

"Terrific film that addressed current climate issues in a very prescient way. Combined serious issues, personal circumstances with concern and humour.

The main actor portrayed the two sisters giving both a full characterisation."

"This film captured the imagination, the conscience and of course the attention. There is nothing about it I could criticise. The musical 'background' was inspirational providing both humour and atmosphere and the modern day cautionary tale aspect was poignantly captured in the irony of the flooding in the final scene."

Woman at War. 10 out of 10. Excellent! An exceptional and very powerful film. Halla was captivating to watch in all her varied roles and the film powerfully highlighted the very real problems of today and how one person’s actions count.  A strong message yet with that touch of humour (the poor innocent Spaniard on his bike). The outstanding film score and the musicians and singers who warned of danger added powerfully to the atmosphere of this memorable tour de force".