Godland (2022)

 

Genre: Drama/ Action

Time: 2h 23mins

Director: Hlynur Pálmason

Quick Summary: At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.

I think this was too artsy for me.

The first thing I need to get out of the way is, I did not finish this film. I couldn't. I was so bored of this by the 30-minute mark I really didn't want to waste any more time watching this film. 

It's a shame I couldn't get into this as this is so pretty to watch. All the footage is shown in a grainy square to mimic the look of a 19th-century camera. Each shot is static and we only momentarily linger on the shot before it cuts to another, and honestly, I really liked that. We get stunning shots of Iceland and the beautiful various landscapes. 

I couldn't get interested in the story though sadly. It was just too boring. Nothing happens until maybe 40 minutes in, and then it wasn't that interesting. Which is why I stopped watching. The dialogue was too lengthy for such static shots and unappealing characters too. The main guy throws fits when the shot isn't correct, or forces people to cross dangerous rivers causing a person's death. This guy is a priest too, you'd think he'd have a bit more compassion. I feel like I missed a couple of scenes where people were explaining what they were going to do as well because of a sudden we'd be thrown into somewhere new with no explanation.

Absolutely disappointing to me that a film this pretty was so boring. Maybe I missed out by stopping this halfway through, but I have zero interest in giving this a second chance as I don't want to bore myself to death.

2/10