In the white silence of the Arctic, a plane crashes with a single pilot who survives. He transforms the remains of the body into a dwelling, tries to send a distress signal, catches fish with difficulty, overcomes loneliness. It lasts several weeks, maybe months. Until another rescue team, trying to help, also crashes nearby.
The film “Lost in the Ice” turned out to be unusual and not for the mass audience, not because there are deep and niche ideas or complex philosophy, just the picture is more contemplative, there is very little dialogue, almost no dynamics, but there is a snowy desert, the suffering of a lonely person and his weakness before the elements, nature.
This is a mixture of road history, survival and beautiful footage during the tragedy. At the same time, it reminds of “To the Stars”, “Robinson”, and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, only in the snow.
I cannot recommend this film to everyone, it came out too specific and with some assumptions, but I watched it with pleasure. If you like the examples above or like Mads Mikkelsen, you can try.
The plot of the film tells us about a plane crashed, the pilot of which tries to survive in the Arctic desert in severe frosts.
The main character of the film (Mads Mikkelson) plays a strong-willed man who finds himself in harsh unusual conditions. He has to use his wits every day to survive. Mikkelson played amazingly, barely uttering a single word throughout the film. Based on his characteristic facial expressions and gestures, he conveyed to the viewer the experiences and fears of the main character. The whole film is based on the magnificent acting of one person (given the small cast) and looks in one breath.
Icelandic cinema is an opening for the audience. Director Joe Penn pleasantly surprised us with a good picture that has a philosophical basis of human character. Unhurried and meditative cinema fascinates us with its expected actions.
A person’s strong character is always manifested in extreme situations (as shown in this film).
You like popcorn, Marvel shit and all that colorful stupid Hollywood stuff? You can pass by, this movie is not for you. You just won't understand him. This film is gray and cold as the Arctic, just in which the protagonist tries to find salvation. Grey days, gray "working" everyday life consisting of monotonous actions. From the bright - only the unquenchable hope that you are not forgotten and will come for you. And we're here.
And here lies the paradox. I wish they hadn't come. At least not today. But alas. And all those days that seemed difficult were really just warm-ups. Now just gather all the will and hope and go to fight the snow. . .
A complicated film that stands out from a mass that is not defined for the average viewer. I revisited one end 3 times to understand the result.
The rating of the film could put even higher, but it is too easy in the Arctic for the main character to live without fire.
8 out of 10
Every day, everyone struggles with the difficulties of life for existence in this world. The chances are different for everyone, no matter how rude it sounds, because the conditions of these competitions are individual. And Joe Penn's debut film showcases just one of the toughest survival conditions. The action takes place in the desert ice of the Arctic, where the wind daily reminds of the loneliness of the protagonist and his hopeless actions to save his mind and body. The monotonous food, the smell of which already turns the stomach, going outside the makeshift house in fear and confusion, hourly fading dreams are all components of the groundhog day, where events repeat every 24 hours. Is there a philosophical reflection on the need to continue this struggle? A person who finds himself in such conditions will undoubtedly sooner or later doubt the correctness of his actions, perhaps even rethink the essence of being and his stay on Earth.
The main character is a member of the flight crew, he probably knew about the possible side effects of flights through such uncontrollable climatic conditions and understood what difficulties he might face. In this regard, he appears before the audience as a strong man whose will to live is comparable to the will of a frog that beat milk to the state of butter. In addition, the picture demonstrates the highest level of empathy and sympathy, proudly set against the growing human egoism. No one knows in advance about their future actions. It doesn’t matter how persevering you were when you played basketball or how smart you were when you made economic charts. The emotional component will come into play without asking permission and will stand on a par with logical thinking. The choice will be unexpected – cynicism and salvation or empathy, romanticism and a good death.
Many directors love to test their hero in space. So Penna chose not the most distant planet for this. But the unexpected happened: Mars was already occupied by the cheerful Damon and densely planted with potatoes. After a little thought, Penna did not share the territory with the aksakals of Hollywood, but decided to go to a space, according to him, as distant, unexplored and inanimate as the red planet, but located directly on our green. This space was the Arctic, about which the director knows clearly no more than about Mars and which he understands no deeper than the casual tourist, but whose name he did not hesitate to name his story.
Shoot went to Iceland - certainly not the harshest part of the Arctic: and the internal warmth of the island, and the location of the Arctic circle only a fifth of its part. But the story below is not about the countless options when choosing a location, nor about the repeated use of the theme of survival in the wild in the cinema - it is always interesting and instructive. The story of the terrible dissonance between the play of Mikkelsen, who simply does not know how to do it badly, and the work of a director-writer who does not know how to do it well. So you involuntarily believe the hero of the Dane; but the director does not.
A polar explorer will never lie in a sleeping bag tightly dressed - this is a sure way to shake in it to the bones and is equivalent only to wearing another jacket, which will not help keep warm during the night. Innuits – the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic, who are incorrectly called Eskimos (for them this is an insult) – in their snowy igloo always fit in ' sleeping bags' (between animal skins) absolutely naked.
The polar explorer will not engage in Sisyphean labor and dig huge trenches in the snow, bringing out SOS with them - no matter how hard the lonely creator of such a painting tries, it will be changed and covered with snow faster than he will have the strength to clear.
The polar explorer will not take a can of water on a winter sleigh trip - it will still freeze, and a miserable balloon with gas will then be enough only to melt a glass of water from this canister.
The polar explorer will not melt snow in the thermal circle - hardly need to explain why. And in his equipment, he prefers ordinary thin-walled dishes, which are easy to use for cooking and transferring water from a crystalline state to a liquid one.
Any sober traveler will never leave home without a fire, and the polar aviator is no exception. And if it is on the sea coast, it will be able to make a fire: continental rivers supply a mass of fin to the sea, and storm waves regularly store it along the coastline even in the high latitudes of the Arctic. The presence of a polar bear in the film just indicates that the sea is somewhere near.
Finally, a polar pilot can certainly read a map. So it will not be surprising on the way that the unfortunate hero Mikkelsen is surprised with curses. How not to choose and the most unreasonable way for a pedestrian crossing, albeit a shorter one.
In addition, the map of helicopter pilots is directly magical, having nothing to do with the ordinary flight, containing a specific load intended for aviators and the scale of which is usually not larger than 1: 500 000 (in one centimeter 5 kilometers). So if the heroes-helicopters used the edition for ground work, half of their small helicopter had to occupy racks with maps, because one such sheet would be enough for five minutes of flight. Well, the pilots of the plane apparently smoked their own on-board card on the way. But no, they didn’t have matches. So they probably just cleaned their shoes and threw them out the window.
With all this, Overgyrd does not look like a person who commits rash acts. Of course, despite the fact that any polar explorer knows well that the only true solution in the event of a plane crash in the uninhabited places of the Arctic will be to wait for help at the crash site, a person can not withstand the Arctic loneliness that drove many brave explorers of this space mad, and go on a deadly path to virtually nowhere. Because on the map, the hero finds not a weather station (always marked with a triangle with a horizontal arrow at the top), but some seasonal camp that may be abandoned.
However, to go on a sleigh journey with a seriously wounded person is tantamount to signing a death sentence; moreover, with his condemnation to a painful death. And no one, even the most courageous and strong-minded person, unless he is unconscious all the time (and this is not the case in the film), can refrain from moaning when his exhausted body is constantly shaking, not to mention repeatedly sledging off the slide. Surprisingly, Penna himself studied medicine at university in his youth. It seems that he did not learn well; he did not finish it in the end.
To the absurdity of the decision to transport a lying wounded man on foot in winter, there are added the additional difficulties of sending him natural needs in such conditions, of which there is nothing unnatural and certainly ridiculous. But the director preferred to either forget about such “non-essential” & #39; details of the functioning of the human body, or delicately leave such scenes behind the scenes, although the possible efforts of the main character in the necessary help in this case to his companion deserve no less respect than his other courageous actions, and without any vulgarity should only increase the drama of the narrative.
But Penna’s tasks were different: it was only necessary to throw Hollywood foam on the backs of National Geographic and feed this pseudo-Arctic dish to a trembling viewer who would see here not a banal speculation on survival stories, but would perceive it as a posturing to a real man. And the profuse sounding, primitive 'pressive' soundtrack, replacing the North's discord here, will help him in this. Well, if Mikkelsen saves someone in this film, then first of all - the director.
It seems difficult to find better material for a film that could be called ' The Arctic' than the story of the first human conquest of the North Pole - an example of exceptional courage and incredible strength of spirit of man. Moreover, Frederick Albert Cook wrote a beautiful syllable, psychologically subtle and containing a lot of plot details book: ' My Finding the Pole'. A book that could only be written by a man who not only made this journey, but also deeply understands the Arctic. And the story of Cook has a much more dramatic conclusion after its Arctic part, because his most difficult achievement was shamelessly stolen by the vile scum of Peary.
As for the film Penna, it really deserves only the title ' Lost in the ice ' And not so much in the ice of the Arctic as in the ice of Hollywood - the cold of self-interest and ignorance of the narrator.
Our desires today are not just gadgets. You give me moral ideals!
This film is an anthem to man!
But not just Homo Sapiens, but a man with a capital letter who has absorbed all the best that civilization has brought to the world!
It is safe to say that the hero of the picture is a Hero of our time!
A true man, absolutely self-control, noble and humane, physically strong and sharp mind, and did not submit to the indifferent and deadly cold Arctic!
His sincere compassion for a woman in distress, a weaker being, the realization of responsibility for her life and the fact that he is no longer alone in this Arctic desert, undoubtedly renewed his strength, inspired him with sweet hope for salvation, and, as they say, opened a second wind in him.
The whole range of feelings lived and the viewer thanks to the impeccably subtle acting of the talented Mads Mikkelson.
The participants of the film almost do not talk, and this is a justified director's move: the dramatic effect of this only increases, and the increased degree of audience concentration on the action increases with every minute.
This kind of film is needed.
Let them not have detective excitement, but they give rise to ideals that you want to strive for.
A crashed pilot survives in the icy desert of the Arctic, establishing a kind of life around the remains of his plane. After some time, the main character realizes that there is very little hope for salvation. In order not to go crazy alone, he does everything strictly on schedule and peeking the timer on his wristwatch. The man copes with the cold, catches fish, marks every day in an improvised calendar and tries in vain to get in touch. We don't know exactly how long he's been living like this. A pair of rescuers who suddenly arrive to help are also caught in a storm and their helicopter crashes. One of the rescuers dies immediately. Only a girl remains alive, but she is seriously injured. Therefore, the man decides to go along with the dying in search of salvation. Further on the plot, we are waiting for all the horrors and trials that the main character will have to overcome, despite the completely inhuman harsh weather conditions and merciless elements.
This film can be summarized in three words: cold, loneliness, silence. Before us unfolds the snowy expanses of the Arctic, frightening and endless. The film involves only three actors, one of whom we see only in the role of a corpse, and the second most of the story is unconscious. Also in the film there is a bear, by the way, a real one. It was cheaper to shoot the beast than to paint.
The main character is played by the famous Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Doctor Strange) and does it magnificently. His expressive appearance is fully suitable for the role of an intelligent and persistent man fighting for his life. You believe and empathize with the hero so much that you want to cry because you can not help. No wonder at the premiere screening at the international Cannes Film Festival, the film received a ten-minute audience ovation.
In cinema there is a decent number of paintings, one way or another touching on the topic of human survival in difficult conditions. We (the audience) saw a lot – and how people from hunger in extreme conditions ate the corpses of other people, and how they drank urine, and all sorts of suffering from various injuries and much more. But no film has previously explored this theme as in this movie.
In the Arctic, it is not about the fact of the feat, but about the differences between life and survival. The main character must survive in the icy desert alone. It maintains its existence in the hope of salvation from without and does not take decisive action. He doesn’t feel any emotions, and in a sense, he’s already used to that way of life. But when a second character appears in the film, he begins to come to life. His life has a purpose.
It’s a movie about how we can’t do things alone. The main character would never dare to go looking for help and try to survive away from his established life. He does it because there is a girl who needs to be saved. In a way, she's actually helping him.
This is where the film is built. Just in words, but morally exhausting on screen. And given the extreme conditions of filming, you really see how during the film the actor changes not because of the good work of the makeup artist, but because of the role itself, life in the shoes of his character.
In an hour and a half, barely 60 phrases are spoken. There is no inner dialogue of the hero, flashbacks, romantic overtones and all sorts of clichés. There's nothing superfluous or distracting. We don’t even know the story of the hero, we can only guess. At the same time, the film is interesting, emotionally filled and realistic. The speed of the story is perfect: not fast and not prolonged. And you're looking forward to what happens next.
The movie got me hooked. This is the best survival movie I've seen lately. I recommend it to those who love paintings about the struggle for life and the triumph of strength of spirit.
There was a movie like The Snow Walker. Canada 2003.
The bundle is almost one-in-one, except for the difference that in the Canadian film the hero got, though terminally ill, but still mobile companion. Which, in fact, saved him, because was a local resident, but the pilot, although an experienced Arctic pilot, was completely unfit for life in the Arctic (one scene, as he throws off his clothes when he falls into a cloud of gnats, what is worth).
The opposite is true in this film. The main character is a real man who will not disappear in the Arctic, and the girl will be saved, and even though no one asks him, he constantly assures the poor girl that everything is fine, and she is not alone, and he will not leave her. He knows everything, he has everything burning in his hands, he does not faint from the sight of blood. This is a very reliable man!
Screening is completely tired. There is no longer any desire to watch it. All those standard plots, moves, actors. Nothing new. Same thing. But that's not the point now.
Artic is not unique either. I remember the movie 'Survivor'. The authors themselves, by the way, also mention the film 'The Martian' in one of their interviews. You can look and no doubt find other examples. But it must be admitted that the release of such films is always perceived as a breath of fresh air. The opportunity to get a little distracted from the routine streaming movie, which probably seems boring even to its creators.
It’s not just the snow that makes the Arctic fresh. Freshness blows from the whole movie. The scenes in the film are honed and verified. Nothing superfluous. The speed of the story is perfect: not fast, not prolonged. The plans are good: right and beautiful. The viewer receives information about what happened, who the main character is, and what he is doing. Behind his simple and routine movements lies a tear, his concentrated indifference is supported by him in the name of preserving emotions and strength.
Words in the film are few, and emotions and experiences abound.
The actor who played the main (and almost the only role) is very good and harmonious in the frame.
It should be noted that in the film there is another actor whose play the viewer cannot feel. It's the weather. The temperature and wind in the hall can not pass, and they play a significant role here. In order to feel what people have to experience, being on the other side of the screen. For us, the audience, everything looks like snow and snow. We don't feel the difference between -1C and -35C in a warm room. But think about it, about this difference, while watching.
In general, the authors still managed to convey the insecurity of a person, which he experiences, being in completely wild northern conditions.
I also liked how the film conveys the smallest nuances of the plot, some emotional moments, points of decision-making. They don't put a big kettle on the whole screen. The approach to revealing the plot is more subtle and it is pleasant. Here, both the director and the actor should pay respects.
Actually, the film is masterful. Nothing superfluous.
Arctic will force to reconsider the attitude to what is called home, warmth, shelter, protection. The life of modern man allows him to completely forget about what this life is. This movie is a good reminder of that. It encourages us to appreciate and respect work, and also opens up a new perspective on what civilization gives us.
9 out of 10
In the past, you had to overcome short distances on the snow cover, which is why it blows sleep. Warming cheeks blood, after kissing the frosty wind. Perhaps everyone has a special relationship with this element, exciting in the crystal ball. And that's what Joe Penn created. Endless wandering in a circle.
It is enough to shake the world with your steps, and the subsequent ones will seem heavier than the first, and breathing cuts the throat. So our hero, with one unfortunate step, fell into this part of reality. Looking into his eyes, filled with confidence and action, doubts are immediately blown away, as is the heat from his lungs. Mads’ enduring image allows us to see through the eyes of Toumas Ern Thoumasson, as if a successfully set tripod. A smooth and smooth picture, emphasizing the severity of the local lands.
Emptiness, coupled with cold and hunger, could become a beautiful tip of a spear thrown into the saving horizon. Only it could not fly under the musical sail of Joseph Trapanese. The harsh landscape lacked worthy compositions that reinforce certain episodes. Slightly did not reach the background, because the film could become a beautiful work, where we sometimes throw harsh everyday life. Where our minds freeze and weaken, caught in the cruel grip of reality.
The picture itself is saturated with emotions, no matter how you are repelled by a small caste. I continue to be amazed by Mads Mikkelson’s palette of emotions. Even here, almost without words, injects blood into the seemingly dead character. And of course, the icing on the cake was humanity, sitting comfortably on the heart. A pleasant, light film worth the attention of those who like ' song of cold lands'.
A lone figure in a red jacket, wandering through the endless whiteness of snow. In this short sentence, in principle, lies the whole plot of the film ' Lost in the ice ' from beginning to end. This is a tape that is easier to see once than read a hundred reviews. But not so much because the film is so masterpiece and genius, just about it nothing to say.
' Lost in the Ice' it's a movie with no plot per se, no beginning and no end, virtually no dialogue. This is a piece from the life of one pilot, whose share fell to a difficult test, to cope with which not everyone could. However, despite the fact that there is nothing in the film, it is still fascinating, because this is where its main advantage lies.
The picture is focused exclusively on the present time. We know almost nothing about the past of our hero and his literally fallen from the sky ward, we can’t be sure what will happen to them in the future, because all that the pilot who crashed is himself, a helpless girl and an endless icy desert. The film incredibly strongly conveys the feeling of loneliness and a sense of hopelessness, which the hero tries to overcome his own will.
'Lost in the ice' this is the most powerful performance by Mads Mikkelsen, on which the whole picture rests. His performance is great, you really care about his hero, you cry with him and rejoice in rare moments of luck. The film generally plays on the emotions of the viewer very competently, not least thanks to the musical accompaniment.
As I said, it’s very difficult to tell a story about this film. It’s one emotion, and not everyone will like this approach. I can say to myself that ' Lost in the Ice' managed to touch me, I was really impressed.
“Lost in the Ice” is another film about loneliness, the search for a way out of the current difficult situation, in which a person often leads himself. This is a story about difficult choices.
If you look at the film more broadly, you can see that it kind of completes a kind of quadrology of recent years, presented along with this movie tapes “Gravity”, “Hope Will Not Extinguish” and “The Martian”. Accordingly, now loneliness and the struggle for life with smoldering hope in the distance can be seen in the snow of Iceland, in the vacuum of computer space, in the middle of endless real waters and in the desert & #39; Martian & #39; wasteland (in the Wadi Rum desert). And everywhere the hero we have almost one, although someone else can flash in the frame, so that the viewer was not completely bored.
What is this film and this particular one about? In fact, they all reproduce our lives if you subtract all other people from it. We all have one goal in life: to survive. It's our hero's job to survive. And that survival depends on short-term decisions that will have to be held accountable until the very end of the survival process. And the harder it is to make decisions, the more lives depend on them (yours and others). And it is the fateful decisions that I, a mute spectator, observe that I become a quiet participant in the picture, an indifferent god.
In this movie, I liked the unhurried narrative almost without any unnecessary phrases and actions: only dry, immaculate survival without embellishment. The film is inherently naked (in the literal and figurative sense in it there is simply nothing to cling to either the eye, nor the mind, nor even the heart), so there is nothing to comment on. Its entire essence is described in the synopsis. Yes, there will be unusual endings, but there is nothing else that I could review, which would not have said in other reviews of similar films.
I love movies like that. Films in which a lonely person confronts, for example, as here nature, elements, space or other circumstances. Perhaps the reason for this is my average misanthropy and antisociality. I also like sometimes to watch a movie in which there is a rather slow and slow narrative and not a lot of dialogue. Sometimes you get tired of these dialogues, and when they are absent, you can concentrate more on the picture itself and the environment, think. All these attributes are present here, so my attention fell on watching this film.
Mads Mikkelsen is certainly one of the main decorations of the film. Dane with a harsh and perceptive look. It is as harsh as the Arctic itself. Mads, his harshness and manly charisma fit well into the arctic condition of this film. In the end, we just have a great tandem with Mads and the Arctic.
Practically the lack of dialogue does not affect the plot itself, and I think on the contrary decorates this film. It's quite simple, man survives in sterile as space, white as a new t-shirt Arctic desert. Where there is nothing but ice, snow and its rare inhabitants. Man survives, fights for life. The central idea here is simple - the ancient instinct of self-preservation, the strength and great potential of the spirit and body of man, his struggle with nature.
The plot is straightforward, we practically do not tell anything, do not explain anything about the main character, who he is, what happened to him. Many of the answers are in the smallest detail. The plot is focused only on survival itself, we are shown only the cyclical nature of being and the routine robot that the main character is obliged to do in order to stay alive. Then there are some actions (I will deliberately keep silent about them) and inside the main character, as it were, a tumbler works and he understands that he is stuck in this routine, and he must act for the sake of salvation. And then we are led to one logical question: can a person be saved? Will he have the strength and hope? This is the main intrigue.
Excellent visual picture of the snow-white desert of the Arctic. The filming itself, if I am not mistaken, took place in Iceland, and everything was filmed in magnificent Icelandic places. The film has a lot of beautiful panoramas and shots, we are given them to enjoy. Beautiful, quiet and lonely nature is what also adorns this movie.
As a result, we have a good film about the survival of man in the harsh environment. Where everything is realistic and qualitatively done.
Tired of gray flowers, domestic eyes, all day watching harsh faces, boxes of houses and cars, unexpectedly received a relaxed evening thanks to the film “Arctic” (“Lost in the ice” (c) roller). White asceticity of colors calms the eyes, gives them rest. Although in tense moments we have to peer into the depths of the picture, how we peered into the darkness of the very series “Game of Thrones”.
As for the film itself, it looks fast, not drawn out, despite the lack of dialogue and serious plot. The bare idea of survival, coupled with classical morality, is that you cannot give up and that the power of the human spirit has no limits. This universal story can be placed anywhere. No deep thoughts. At the end of the film you want to see “based on real conditions”, but even without this inscription everything looks logical and plausible.
The story is simple and it seems that the script came out 10 sheets. In part, this may be true, because director Joe Penn previously shot only short films. His first long meter is essentially a sprawling short.
The acting in the film is represented by Mads Mikkelsen, who worked for the highest rating. Although the role is not the most difficult, but it was played without mistakes.
In the end, I want to say that this is just a good evening movie for resting the eyes, without “wow” and without “wow”. Not boring or complicated. For home viewing.
Each movie has its own audience. From action movies for troubled teenagers to complex existential dramas for gray-haired lovers to scratch their brains. Where did the creators of this painting go? On the one hand, there is a slow, frankly, meditative presentation of the video. On the other hand, the plot of the picture is so simple that it can be put into one sentence. The hero of the tape is the simplest mortal who finds himself in a difficult life situation, and like any mortal, he does everything to survive.
It would seem that the film does not offer anything new, but at the same time, after watching you for a long time chills from the cold and punches with a sense of loneliness. The work of the film crew and Mads allowed the audience to speak in the purest language of cinema. The main character does not chew anything, he practically does not speak at all, allowing the viewer to take an active part in what is happening on the screen. At some points you put forward hypotheses, try to pair with the survivor to understand how to act further, interpret one or another of his actions. It’s not much, but it’s enough not to get bored. At the same time, every step of Mads’ hero has a real payoff. I mean, you see him getting tired, overcoming the elements to move on. The quality of the built empathy for the hero, which dictates the film is simply amazing. At the same time, the picture shows the author’s vision and throws the viewer a moral choice, which most likely may not coincide with the choice of the hero, which surprised me. This so not pretentious film managed to raise the question of humanity even wiser than in the most abstruse films.
The conclusion is that this film should be seen on the big screen and with good sound, because that’s how the picture will unfold 100%. In my opinion, this is the most "film" film, as it really works on an audio-visual level. Especially you will like this tape if you are tired of the summer heat and noisy companies and you just want to think. And yes, I can hardly imagine this film without Mads, it's great here, despite the limited nature of its role.
General impression:GG Overgor (Mads Mikkelsen) The pilot of the plane that crashed in the Arctic. Every day is a struggle for survival. Signaling from an emergency beacon, he tries to save himself. He catches a fish, lives on an airplane, exhausted, tired, and confronts nature. This struggle for life reveals the most hidden corners of the human self. It seems that there is no hope, but one day Overgor notices a rescue helicopter that crashes. One of the crew members survives but is seriously injured. Now the Y's have new concerns... What will he do to the wounded? Do what? What are the challenges facing the Arctic desert?
Visually, the film is beautiful, although we have one snowy location before our eyes. Watching the hero is not boring. All his actions cause curiosity and empathy. I am an emotional person, I managed to cry for the film. It is frightening to think that this can be, and that you should rely only on yourself. How insignificant man is against the forces of nature. The heroes are sincerely sorry, I was so immersed in viewing that I erased the boundaries between the screen and the snow cover, an hour and a half flew unnoticed.
They don’t tell us the backstory of the character, they don’t tell us how he got to the Arctic, I don’t think it’s a downside. But I think it would be a good idea to take a couple of minutes to reveal this detail, or to talk to a wounded girl like a brief 30-second story. Yes, there is an emphasis on emotions and what is the strength of the spirit, but this is what I lacked - backstory.
I recommend to watch , before you will open a dramatic part, fascinating acting. And the vast expanses of the icy desert. Great movie!
Pictures about survival (based on real events like “Alive”, “At a depth of 6 feet”, “Everest” or invented by screenwriters as “On the Edge” in 1997, “Fatal Route” (also called “Deafness”) are incredibly dramatic films that tell about the strength of the human spirit and how insignificant man is compared to Nature.
Arctic or Lost in the Ice is the story of an Overgor pilot (Mads Michelsen) who crashed somewhere in the northern snow. The film begins with his adaptation to new conditions and attempts to find salvation. Overgor himself does not intend to move from his place and hopes that he will be found: he cleans out a giant SOS inscription, which will be visible from a height, he catches fish so as not to die of hunger, he gives a radio signal through a transmitter in the hope that he will be heard. But everything changes when he finds a wounded woman. Now the pilot intends to start moving, because in his hands not only his own life, but also the life of the victim. The path is not close and Overgor begins a hike that is unknown how it will end.
Mads Michelsen is excellent. The Danish actor, for whom this film became almost a solo project, played great and, in my opinion, 100 percent displayed on the screen the behavior and emotions of a person who found himself in critical conditions. Reason and calmness at the very beginning of the film, when he firmly withstands the troubles that have fallen on him, is replaced by determination and casting aside the instinct of self-preservation in order to save the life of another, after which the viewer sees a real man - the defender of a temporary house (the scene with a cave and a bear), ready to fight for two lives to his last breath. We see a man who in despair loses hope, but finds it again, squeezes out his last strength and goes to the cherished goal of salvation.
A strong film.
In fact, on the example of this picture and the pilot Overgor, one can judge how insignificant (in comparison with Nature) a person who was far from all the benefits of civilization is. It is very difficult to fight one-on-one with Mother, and if you do not have the necessary funds, you are a known outsider. The presence of minimal means of survival and the skills of the tourist came in handy to Overgor and the viewer saw on the screen not chaotically rushing from side to side a person who suffered a crash and does not know what to do, but a person who humbly accepted the blow of fate and is ready for any tests.
Survival films are good (and there are plenty of other examples), because they give an idea of the limit of the human spirit, about unity (if it is a teamwork, not a single person), about the chances of survival, like straws that you need to grasp. These are real odes to the human character, composed in magnificent feature films.
Dramatic film.
This film is steeped in drama. Taking into account the conditions in which the heroes find themselves, including weather and food, a very dangerous situation is played out here, when the life of one injured person depends on the state in which a healthy person will remain. The slightest relaxation of the latter can lead to sad consequences, the result of which will be the inability to escape even one. In other words, the responsibility of Overgor to the wounded girl increases exponentially, because now he is not for himself, he is for himself and for her.
A beautiful movie.
Despite the scarcity of landscapes (well, what else can you think of where there is only snow), Joe Penna (director) shot a visually beautiful picture with snowy mountains, hills and slopes. He found a place for a bright touch in the form of a flower growing from stones, added a tanned, even baked under the polar sun face of the pilot Overgor, decorated everything that was happening with pumping and atmospheric music and presented a truly fascinating project. Fascinating with its icy beauty and serenity...
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
The country-producer Iceland, the known fact about the isolated dialogues in the film, the chamber nature of the events taking place – a lot of expectations were for the film Lost in the Ice, which had all the ingredients to shake up the genre of snow survival. But the film turned out to be quite straightforward, laying light on all the “intelligent” lotions in the trailer itself.
The protagonist, having crashed in the Arctic quite comfortably based with clearly not genetically modified salmon and drinking water at least, decides to go on a search for salvation after another helicopter crashes. Plus, there is also a bear, which from time to time drags fish with bait, and, apparently, do not mind eating human.
In principle, there are enough details to "Lost in the Ice" provided something more to the viewer than others managed to do, but closer to the equator of history it becomes obvious that "Joe Penn" instead of an independent view of the genre went to compromise and made his story in some Hollywood tones. Mads Mikkelsen coped with his role, even if his character took too much time to think about some decisions, but given the limitations of both physical and creative space, his character looks normal.
A good film for one-time viewing, obvious shortcomings that could pull the impression in the negative direction is not, but the tape did not leave any special impressions.
6 out of 10
“Lost in the Ice” doesn’t take much time to immediately convey to the viewer its quiet and calm tone. Such a rhythm, however, does not mean that the film is slow or measured: on the contrary, the context of human survival in harsh conditions touches on the most instinctive theme. The almost wordless project, suddenly, correctly places accents: while the “Rogue” set the template, and “127 Hours” and “Hope Will Not Extinguish” continued it, “Lost in the Ice” is strikingly different from the above pictures, because the hero here was betrayed so human features that the viewer wants to associate himself with him.
As a result, Lost takes time to start working properly. A terrible immersion in loneliness envelops the viewer from the first frames: a battered surviving pilot in a dirty insulated jacket draws huge letters of SOS in the snow. All we need to know is that the hero eats, sleeps and shelters from the cold in the snow-covered backbone of the plane. Without unnecessary words and a tragic background, Mikkelsen’s character catches fish, celebrates the days in an improvised calendar, tries to get in touch and, of course, grows a beard.
At first, Lost builds a kind of trusting relationship with the viewer, thanks to its pleasant prose style. The concept does not try to surprise (although, to be honest, the film is elegantly made) and does not deceive with illusions: it is quite possible to believe in the seriousness of the story. There is no shock effect here: the measured bike is tense, focused, serious and not afraid to be a little empty. Mikkelsen is not a superhero here, so you can worry about him.
Although Lost avoids existential monologues detailing the lead role's past (we won't even know the purpose of his Arctic visit or the details of his biography), there's something about the script that perfectly reveals the character's character: the protagonist not only saves himself, but also helps someone else in a worse situation than his. This instills real drama into potentially mundane details. In each scene, it is clear what is at stake, so, probably, every act of the hero from finding a photo to creating an improvised sleigh acquires a genuine emotional coloring. This is quite decent material and a good background for the film, the action of which takes place in harsh territory, and touches on the theme of self-sacrifice and heroism.
What takes Lost in Ice to the next level is Mikkelsen’s stunningly expressive face. Known for his villainous role, the actor, suddenly, gives his character the energy and humanity that are transmitted through the screen at every step of the way. Without backstory or dialogue, Mikkelsen demonstrates a virtuoso game capable of attracting attention in a rigorous and minimalist film.
The modest survival thriller is impressive, especially thanks to the lack of exposure or, oddly enough, plot. This elevates “Lost in the Ice” above the examples of the genre, but somewhat disappointing is the fact that there is no full story here. The script is certainly full of strong moments, but they all play on emotions. In general, this film project, preoccupied with small details, correctly considers any action of its protagonist from all sides: only to pull the viewer out of his comfort zone and make him also pour cold sweat.
7 out of 10
The debut film of the Icelander Joe Penn with Mads Mikkelsen in the title role leaves a dual impression. On the one hand, it is a survival story, which, if it does not break the canons of the genre, then at least introduces a “cold stream” of novelty into it. And on the other hand, it is too ascetic narrative, without any plot twists. For Mikkelsen, this role, in my opinion, is ideal for several reasons, firstly, he easily fits into the image of the “brutal man”, and secondly, he is Scandinavian, and subtly feels the specifics of Scandinavian directors.
There is practically no dialogue in the film, although it is more accurate to say monologues and this also adds a certain atmosphere. The panoramic landscapes of Iceland perfectly convey the horror of a man who was left alone in the cold desert. The director deliberately saved the viewer from all sorts of backstory, memories and flashbacks. You can even label scripted primitivism, but it was done purposefully. And I think it worked.
Well, come on, the movie still turned out great and shows the will of man to life!
You have to be honest. This movie is mostly for those who love Mas Mikkelsen. The premonitions were justified - you can endure this film only because of him.
When a person is in a similar situation, each day is like another. The landscape does not change, the actions go into routine. But in real life there is one huge difference, namely, what a person feels and thinks, what is stored in his history and memory. You can climb the same mountain every day, but your inner state will change. Today you hope, think about a new plan of salvation, remember moments from the past, and tomorrow you are overwhelmed by despondency and everything collapses, even though you are still going the same way. The picture does not change, but inside you live a new day.
In the film, we were shown one picture, turning a man into an abandoned figure. Who is this man? How did he get into this situation? Who's waiting for him? What does he remember? We are shown a completely sterile void. Add life and stories to this plotless plot, it would be albeit banal, but a good film.
In 1.5 hours, you can collect hardly 10-15 minutes of a film. Perhaps that is why most try themselves first in short films, and do not grab a lifeline with the name Mas Mikkelsen?
The film turned out to be a good metaphor for the work of the creators of this creation. Mas alone drags on a sled from the sterile white emptiness of the cocooned creators. Who is the audience in this story? Yama? Bear? Or frozen bore trout?
Before watching the film, I had already seen all the trailers and teasers and had a general idea of the film, almost 90% of its content. But despite this, he managed to surprise.
The lack of dialogue (with rare exceptions), endless snow-covered landscapes and a tragically dramatic soundtrack give the effect of unreality of what is happening and a sense of a certain metaphor. There is no super vivid suffering and emotions - they are muffled, and the silence and facial expressions of the protagonist play an important role. It was amazing how he kept his mind in such conditions, somehow adjusting to them. Total feeling of loneliness and hopelessness with this cold desert.
The appearance of a new person, of course, pleases him. Oh, how touchingly Ovregard hugged the girl like a family, finally meeting a living person in his company. After all, it was with her appearance and the desire to save that new forces flared up in him to go on, despite the danger of this journey. But, in fact, staying in place was an even worse option. In the future, the hero had moments of choice and emotional torment. Although the girl was unconscious, and the path was difficult in every sense, yet it was she, the desire to save her was initially the driving factor.
Mads brilliantly coped with the role, however, as always. His tired, exhausted face with doom in his eyes spoke more than any words.
In this film, you don’t have to dig into the moments of mistakes and try to analyze it thoroughly, you have to feel it. After all, if you carry through all the emotions of the main character, then the essence of the film will open. I did it, and I wish you the same.
“Lost in the ice” is an Icelandic adventure drama about survival in extreme conditions will definitely appeal to all fans of life stories about ordinary people who need to undergo many difficult tests to achieve their goal.
In the story, a man after the crash of the plane is trying to survive. Despite everything, he finds the strength to adapt to life in the snowy Arctic. Faced with complete equanimity, he lives day after day and does everything possible to attract the attention of helicopters flying in the sky. After a while, he witnesses a plane crash that leaves one girl alive. Realizing that the wounded lady will not live long, the hero decides on a very bold and at the same time dangerous way to the nearest weather station with a distance of tens of kilometers. And all would be nothing, except for a hungry polar bear, following in the footsteps of a brave traveler.
For the production was responsible for the beginning director Joe Penn, for whom this picture is the first serious work in a big movie. Immediately I want to note that the film is slightly different from other similar format of perception of paintings, since the author does not openly inform the viewer about the plot, heroes and other important things. In fact, the director, instead of telling the viewer the necessary details, he unobtrusively shows them in the frame, so an inattentive viewer may well overlook important moments related to the plot or characters of the picture. For example, the director does not say who the main character is: the pilot or the passenger of the crashed plane. How many days have you been alone and who are you? Also, nothing is known about his family, the purpose of the flight and the causes of the crash. But still the director answers some questions, only does it without words with the help of certain clues in the frame.
There is very little dialogue in the film, and the hero himself is silent most of the story, so do not expect eloquent explanations and heart-to-heart conversations. Also in the plot there are no large-scale action scenes and brutal confrontations with enemies. In this case, everything looks much simpler, but at the same time more profound and dramatic. The whole film is a continuous struggle of the hero and a tough confrontation with himself, as a result of which the viewer has nothing to do but simply watch from the sidelines and wait for the hero to finally break down and finally give up from complete powerlessness.
Of course, many will compare this film with the picture “Survivor”, although the structure of the semantic message they are completely different. After all, “Survivor” is primarily a film about revenge, and “Lost in the Ice” is a story about salvation, which becomes the only driving force for the hero throughout the story. The main character instead of himself for some reason puts first the life of a girl unfamiliar to him, with whom he can not even communicate, as she speaks another language. From the last forces, he drags the wounded body of a stranger, then in the midst of endless snow fields, then rises into the mountains amid the raging wind and piercing cold. But the most interesting thing is that the main character in the film remains the main mystery, about which the author is in no hurry to tell. In his image and psychological portrait there are many gaps, because of which there are incomprehensible motives for certain actions, although the hero himself at first glance looks quite simple.
As for the production, it is very standard and at the same time high-quality for the average film about survival in the wild. Although there is nothing super-original in terms of visual presentation, but watching the film is quite interesting. At first, it seems that everything that happens on the screen is a part of a reality show, where everything repeats from day to day the same thing, as if the hero does not survive, but just does his job. But then the events escalate, the tension intensifies, and real adventures begin, developing into vivid action with dramatic retreats and the subsequent strong finale. On the screen, everything looks organic, true and with complete immersion in the events taking place. Heroes believe that empathy is present, and when watching there is a continuous connection with the actor Mads Mikkelsen, who did everything necessary to ensure that each scene will remain in the memory of the viewer forever. This is a truly worthy acting work, done in the mode of real severe natural conditions.
Summing up, we can say with confidence that the film turned out to be interesting, informative and with an original author’s approach, thanks to which a simple story at first glance becomes a very unusual and exciting event in emotional understanding. The film will definitely find its viewer, so enjoy watching.
7 out of 10
As a lover of European cinema, I had no doubt that I should like the film, as it stated all the themes I loved: white silence, isolation from the outside world, a desperate struggle for the right to survive and the triumph of the strength of the spirit and the will to live. And I was not mistaken – from the very first shots it became clear that more than an hour and a half the audience will spend in suspense, waiting for a happy ending. There was a minimum of replicas in the film, but this personally pleases me in many European films (including Scandinavian ones), because such a plot is more likely to reflect and excruciatingly wait, what will happen next, rather than just absorbing action. All attention was focused on the facial expressions of the main (and almost the only) character, and Mads Mikkelsen’s play showed once again that in order to be a professional actor, you do not even need to say any words. In general, he even looks organically in this role - as if he lived all his life somewhere in Greenland and is already accustomed to such a life. At first, it seemed that he was already used to living this way in anticipation of rescuers, so he does not make active attempts to find any points on the map where there may be people who could get him out of there. But very soon we see another helicopter crashing next to him, killing one pilot and seriously injuring his partner. And, of course, the character of Mads now understands that it is impossible to postpone the search for any help, since it is urgent to save the life of the victim.
I was glad that the director decided not to include a love line in this story. In my opinion, many other directors would be tempted to do this, but in this film it would be too primitive and would make the plot much simpler. Here it was more important to highlight another point: even in such brutal conditions, a person who may very soon die, still saves not only himself, but also other people who find themselves in such trouble. Throughout the film, there were many episodes in which the main character could easily leave an additional load in the form of a girl who is unconscious most of the time, and quickly get to the weather station alone. Nevertheless, Overgaard, the hero of Mads Mikkelsen, did not lose his humanity and continued to seek salvation with her. I was especially touched by the moments when he put a picture of her with her family in her hand, as if reminding her that close people are waiting for her at home, so she simply cannot but survive.
Also of the pleasant moments - not quite an obvious ending. He may have been happy, but the audience can argue about it after the closing credits. If some scenes in the film can be called predictable (for which I did a little and removed the general assessment), then here we have the opportunity to freely discuss what happened to the characters at the very last moment, when, it would seem, the rescuers are very close.
Surprisingly, this is the first major work of director Joe Penna and already so successful. I sincerely hope that this film will bring him success and inspiration to create other high-quality and interesting films.
8 out of 10
The country is Iceland, a film with Cannes, high marks from critics (albeit not completely), the most talented actor in the lead role, a survival story. What could have gone wrong?
That's it. I don’t even want to write about such films. "Arthouse for arthouse, so long as it doesn't stink," as my friend used to say. The main problem can be described in one sentence and safely complete the review. The problem is that viewers are shown an absolutely improbable series of situations to squeeze tears out of it. But, so be it, the review will not end here, I will support what was said with examples.
The most memorable case of delirium on the screen. As you know, even airplanes with heavy snowfall do not release into the sky. Here we release a miniature flimsy helicopter in a blizzard with horizontal snow and even in the Arctic. So that you understand how flimsy the helicopter is: the main character hands without problems he tears off sheets of metal. The decision made in the middle of the film about the “new arrival” does not defy logic at all.
Plus just weird movie babes of all sorts. Now in Moscow, the hand becomes numb and hurts if you answer a phone call in the street for 5 minutes. Here, with a huge minus, the hero calmly without gloves pulls a line, pulls out a fish. The behavior of false fire and weather is dissonant. The scene with the rescuers raises many questions in terms of visibility and distance between the characters.
The plot construction is the most primitive. The hero is in situation A, a random event B occurs, which gives a chance to escape. I don’t even want to comment.
It's not about emotions anymore. The film does not cause them, although, admittedly, it is not particularly boring to call it. I just can't understand why the picture was taken. It is made absolutely without love for creation, without a gram of emotionality, even the main character yells for a tick, without ingenuity (perhaps the exception is the scene with a polar bear). The snowy landscapes of the Arctic are boring at some point, although impressive.
Mads Mikkelsen is trying his best. It turns out well, but the creators simply do not allow all his talent to be revealed. It was possible to invite a cheaper actor.
I can’t recommend watching Lost in Ice. Except for very ardent fans of Mikkelsen's talent. The film is too faceless.
“Lost in the Ice”: the most powerful film about survival
First of all, a small lyrical author’s retreat. It so happened that the Dane Mads Mikkelsen in my personal top of the actors takes the most honorable pedestal, and therefore, when writing this review for the film, it is in some ways difficult for me to resist the temptation to go into enthusiastic squeals, squeals, drool ... Okay, I'm kidding. Although I do not joke about the fact that among the acting brothers I love Madsa more than anyone. He's great, period. And now for the movie...
"Lost in the Ice" (or just "Arctic", but domestic localizers are such localizers ...) is the debut work of director Joe Penna, for which he was even nominated in Cannes for best debut, and, admittedly, on merit. Not every film receives a long standing ovation from the audience at the premiere of the film at the Cannes Film Festival.
In cinema there is a decent number of paintings, one way or another touching on the topic of human survival in difficult conditions. But no film has ever done this in the same way as in this movie. We (the audience) saw a lot – and how people from hunger in extreme conditions ate the corpses of other people, and how they drank urine, and all sorts of suffering from various injuries and much more. But surviving alone in the Arctic desert, maintaining your own existence, when you have only hope for your own strength (not only and not so much physical as psychological, because not to go crazy in such a situation is also a feat) and a ghostly hope for salvation – this has not been shown to us before. In this respect, the film with its boundless naturalism, harsh and merciless truthfulness, and at the same time - sincerity and some real humanity gets not only to goosebumps, but directly to the bone.
What in my opinion is very valuable plot "Lost in the ice" is the complete absence of unnecessary "husks", which, sometimes, are quite good pictures. There are no flashbacks at all, there is no backstory as such, we are not told in a voice-over “the content of the previous series” – how, why, when and under what circumstances the main character fell into such difficult life conditions as the crash of his plane itself occurred (by the way, in the synopsis of the film it is written everywhere that he is a helicopter pilot, while in the frame it is clearly a plane, well, not the essence). We see the hero - the pilot H. Overgard (as far as I remember, his name is not fully shown or pronounced anywhere in the film, only the first letter "X", but we know from the announcements that his name is Huxley) in the circumstances "here and now".
The plane under the control of Huxley crashed in the middle of the icy Arctic desert, the pilot survived, after some time he realized that there was little hope for salvation, established a kind of life around the remains of the aircraft, and also (in order not to go crazy alone) does everything strictly according to the schedule and dipping the timer on his wristwatch. But a crashed helicopter and a seriously injured girl, who is unconscious, change the plans of the protagonist and he decides on a risky attempt to get to a distant weather station, to people. A chance at salvation? Absolutely. But at what cost? And then in the plot we expect just all the horrors and trials through which the main character makes his way forward, despite the completely inhuman harsh weather conditions and merciless elements.
That’s where the movie really starts. Arctic nature is absolutely ruthless and harsh, it does not care about the smallest speck of dust for it – human life. And we see the limits of endurance that a person can reach when he realizes responsibility not only for his own life, but also for the life of another person who is unable to take care of himself. The wounded passenger of the helicopter utters only two words during the entire film, the main character does not even know her name. But he understands that he simply has to save her, for which he must survive himself. The spark of thirst for life flares up into the flames, from where the heroes of the plot draw vitality in each other. And, thank heavens (or rather, the author of the script), that the film is completely absent even any hint of some love story (which was hopelessly spoiled the film "Between us mountains" with Kate Winslet and Idris Elba). The pilot Huxley and the wounded Asian girl (as evidenced by the flags of Asian countries on the hull of the crashed helicopter) are strangers to each other, even speaking different languages. But how much moral and psychological interaction between the characters of the picture - it gets to goosebumps when watching. Life! To survive at any cost, in spite of everything, to be able to overcome any obstacles along the way, to save a helpless person next to you - this is perhaps the main semantic and personal "common humane" message of this film. Speaking about the film "Arctic" it is impossible not to note as one of its main advantages its visual part. As you know, the shooting took place in Iceland. This, of course, is not the Arctic, but also an extremely harsh climate, merciless and uncompromising nature and extremely difficult conditions for life. The film crew, as well as a recent guest of the capital - Mads Mikkelsen himself - talked a lot about the extremes of the days when they were shooting the film - snow, frost, wind, wind doors of cars torn off by the wind and much more. Heavy and exhausting shooting schedule, which, of course, influenced the appearance of the main character in the performance of Mickelsen throughout the picture. In an interview, Mads said that the harder it became physically for him, the more exposed his feelings. The psychological decline of the spirit in the eyes of the actor is the real thing. And that's valuable too.
And finally, speaking about this film, it is impossible not to sing praises to its main pearl - the amazing Mads Mikkelsen. Without this actor, the film would be different or not at all. Talking about how much this actor gets used to the image of his character, how all his characters turn out on the screen alive and real and at the same time – they are all so different – is endless. In a word, thank you, incomparable Mads, for Arctic and in general for being in world cinema!
Summing up, I want to say that "Lost in the Ice" - the movie is piercing, lively, extremely sincere in terms of emotions and, of course, leaving behind hope. I remember these words Huxley: Everything is normal... You hear me? It’s okay...” and then you’ll see...
Live...? Yes! A movie about life. Recommended!
P.S. is addressed to fans of the series "Hannibal": on one of the frames Arctic flashes a pilot's license with a photo of a young Mads, the same photo that previously flashed in one of the series "Hannibal"
If you try to tell someone this movie, it turns out that we will only need a few words. So it is, the film is not rich in events or characters, dialogue, or even landscapes, but the director surprisingly manages to protect the viewer from boredom. Perhaps this is due to the fact that those sitting in the hall have to constantly strain their spiritual strength.
Maybe it’s time to bring out a separate genre: “compassion film”. We, the Russians, have a special level of sympathy for this film. When we hear ice dryly scraping the walls, which the water in the heat circle has turned into, when we see Mads rubbing the blackened tips of his fingers, sticking this mug under his sweater, to his body, to his stomach, we feel this icy cold with our own stomach and understand that it is more important to warm the mug than to keep warm under the sweater, and everything is mentally compressed, twisted with cold. Every time. Whether Mads drops his sleigh with a precious load, catches fish, or hides from the wind - we can all paint ourselves. So we look at endless shots of snowy slopes (the cameraman here is like an Eskimo, invented a thousand ways to show white snow) and we have no time to miss. We survive like Mads.
In addition to the “imagine yourself in the Arctic and survive” ride, the creators also threw us some food for the mind, very little, a couple of crumbs, but for lack of another, the brain chews them over and over again. The whole film sits a small thorn in the back of not important, not critical, but unresolved questions: who is he, the main character? How long has he been there? Who is she, heroine? Will he survive?
You can't say it's a great movie. We need to consider whether to recommend it for viewing. You just have to survive it. Maybe let it happen to the viewer, or let the viewer himself go to the viewer prepared, laced, ready for adversity and hardship.
I was lucky enough to be at the premier screening and now I have finally found the words to describe what I saw. This film made me more emotional than I expected, even knowing about the high critical acclaim and continuous five-minute (ten to fifteen minutes?) standing ovation in Cannes.
First on the facts:
This is the director's first job.
Filming was conducted for 19 days in Iceland for 16 hours a day.
The film involves three actors, one of whom we see only in the role of a corpse, the second most of the action is unconscious, the third is played by Dane Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale”, “Hunting”, “Hannibal-tv”, “Rogue One”, “Doctor Strange”, “Van Gogh on the threshold of eternity”).
In total, there are about 60 phrases in the film, words are not pronounced without extreme need. The internal dialogue of the main character is turned off, there are no flashbacks and backstory, no clichés and romantic subtext. Nothing too distracting or distracting.
If I know a picture where one actor is enough for an interesting story that will not let go for several days, it is the Arctic.
This is not a remake of “Survivor” and not another Robinson Crusoe, no matter how similar the plot lines are. In the Arctic, it is not about the fact of the feat, but about the differences between life and survival. The main character in the plot needs to survive in the icy desert, establishing a modest life in permafrost. He maintains his existence in the hope of being saved from without, and every day is like the day before. After certain events, it becomes much more difficult for him to survive, but despite this, he begins to live and ceases to wait for salvation, cornily maintaining life in himself. This is where the film is built. Just in words, but very morally exhausting on screen. And given the extreme conditions of filming, you really see how during the film the actor changes not because of the good work of the makeup artist, but because of the role itself, life in the shoes of his character.
I would, in fact, rightly add the nature of Iceland to the credits of the film as a director, writer and actor. Because she obviously had to be considered in all aspects of the shooting. If you want more details – watch the interview about the organization of the shooting, the entire crew, including the director, is quite active in sharing “fun” details like snowstorms, wind-torn doors at cars and other delights of winter in Iceland.
I didn’t see how many minutes after the end of the film, the audience in Russia applauded, but we definitely had enough credits.
I think I’m going to revisit the film, even though it’s morally difficult. I'm hooked. It's not for relaxation, it's not for popcorn, it's not for friendships with beer. It is very personal, and at the same time it is about each of us.
Mads Mikkelsen is one of the toughest men on the planet. Imagine, this man first played Gopniks in the trilogy ' Dealer', then rose to the level of the gods, and literally played Odin in ' Valhalle' and then almost killed, for a minute, James Bond, and now this guy understands the Kojim stories. That's it! But the most difficult acting test fell on the lot ' Lost in the ice' - Mikkelsen had to eat ' Doshirak' in a dry hamster. Doshirac. Dry mint. Brr!
'Lost in the Ice' - a kind of unique film. Remember '127 hours' - the man also found himself in an extreme situation, ten minutes grunting, pretending to survive, and soon remembered the family. I used to drink pee sometimes, yeah. Because Boyle did not set out to show survival, it was more important for him to show the feelings of a man who was left all alone.
Funny guy Joe Penn (seriously, look how he looks) set himself a devilishly difficult task - to make a film where the main character is silent for most of the timekeeping, walks back and forth, and tries to not die like I do in the video game The Long Dark. I did not get into such extreme situations as the main character, but everything looks as realistic as possible - around his makeshift shelter, the hero places devices for fishing, without a blink of conscience removes his jacket from an already icy corpse. And in one scene he builds a dugout out of snow. Where have you seen this at all?
Joe Penna also unearthed the lost rule of cinema: ' show, not tell' His directing doesn't stand out for any outstanding style, its power is in the details. Here's the proverbial 'environment tells the story'. No one will tell you how many days have passed since the main character met the second character - please look at the features on the bottle that Mikkelsen leaves every day. No one will tell you who Mikkelsen is either. How he got here - well, you'll guess. Although there are two characters in the film (and a funny computer bear), there is only one active hero. The actress the whole film lies not getting up, and with such a load Mikkelsen will have to drag through the Arctic. As a script element, this woman catches up with intrigue - watching any movie, we are almost sure that the main character will survive. We're sure of that here, too. Will a simple plot detail survive?
The strangest thing is, Penna makes us empathize with the heroes. It's something akin to national empathy during some tragedy. The film takes humanism right into us through the screens, and you know, it's a magical feeling.
It is quite possible that some will come out of the room and say: ' what a meaningless movie'. And that's great, too. The whole film seems to me like a sketch. Two actors, around the void, no dialogue, camera work, though good, but repetitive. But these endless voids make you think. Maybe it’s just a survival movie. Or maybe a movie that shows that a man has no helper is only hope. Or it is a deconstruction of genres of films in which the main character gets into serious shit, remembers all the good that he had.
Unusual movie. This is not even a film, but rather a solo performance and complete benefit of Mads Mikkelsen, because of the heroes only he, the heroine and the bear. The whole film is based only on the actor’s play and empathy for him. There are no fights, shootings and chases, but there are much stronger opponents - nature and despair. And the main character himself is not such a hero or villain, but just a very tired person who really wants to survive himself and help another survive.
In some places, even the heart hurts from what kind of hopelessness embraces the hero, that everything is to quit now, to return, not to drag this load with you and get a chance for survival. There are very emotional moments where you almost feel the same pain that the hero feels. In short, I don’t know how a film where Mikkelsen walks through a snowy desert can cause so much emotion, but it does.
Interestingly, the director and screenwriter are new to feature-length movies. Well, there are 2-3 short films, but he made a film in which there is nothing superfluous - no unnecessary conversations, pathetic glances or other water, one constant leisurely and emotional action. Of course, such a chamber movie can be seen at home, but only in the cinema you can feel the infinity of these snows, the power of the blizzard and the height of the mountains, so I am glad that I came to the cinema.
10 out of 10