Deep down. Decently filming a classic work is a notoriously difficult task, so it is especially pleasant to watch those films that are considered potential “dark horses” of future festivals and often remain without awards. The directorial debut of Ferrand Audi is not replete with big names, but the Spaniard found a rather unexpected decision to make a film that directly affects a completely alien Scandinavian mentality and the play of Henrik Ibsen made the basis for it. “Little Eyolf” was created by Ibsen at the end of the XIX century and is not the most famous work of this outstanding Norwegian playwright, but the literary and moral significance of the written has passed the test of time.
Adapting the key characters and events around them to the present, Ferran Audi demonstrates the spiritual state of people who have lost family happiness and live, rather, with personal illusions about the ideal world order. The impossibility of these desires, which give a mile of persistent selfishness, most seriously affects the only son of Alfred and Rita, who is called Ayolf. But the patience of Destiny is not unlimited, and one day she sends the family a real test, which was supposed to place punctuation marks in the simple sentence “forgive can not live like this.”
In a sense, "Frost" is a metaphor. Much attention is paid to nature, snow-capped mountain heights. These places match the dreams of Alfred, ready to stay in them forever and reluctantly returned to his home. Where everything is so deceptively good that the absence of rats at first seems to be a good thing. These unpleasant creatures are not accidentally put into action, marking the extreme degree of decline of the psychological climate in the Eyolph family. Rats, which are usually difficult to drive out of the dwelling, have long since retreated from this perishing place filled with cold and alienation, from this sinking ship, not long ago rushing with open sails towards bright and carefree hope. Out of all the surroundings, only Eyolph is destined to feel this sad fact, and, in some way, become the same rat who made his choice.
Abstracting from the original source, the Spanish director creates in the film a whole tangle of passions from anger, resentment, mutual hostility, fuss and other signs of regression in relationships. When Alfred and Rita cross the extreme line of a joint crisis, they turn into monsters, ready to literally chew each other out. Periods of storms and hurricanes are replaced by relative calm, both realize that they have descended to a depth from which only a miracle or mutual forgiveness can help to get out. And, as often happens in reality, pride and fortitude pull the rope in their direction, interfering with each other until it breaks. Such roles can not be played by everyone and it is necessary to pay tribute to Trond Espen Sejm and Aitana Sanchez-Hijon, whose play made a very vivid impression. Watching this actress in the second film, I can say that she manages different characters.
“Frost” is also a good sketch on universal themes, designed in a concise, but rather curious style. We are shown different generations of people who are asking similar questions about the meaning of life, but some have yet to find their application, while others have already played with reality enough and are invisibly looking for a way out of their situation, which at best can lead them to insight, and at worst to death. Do not forget that the frost that destroys the fruit does not always destroy the seeds inside it.