Aries

Rams, a deadpan comedy/drama from Iceland, has won a barrel of film festival awards, and it displays the quirky charm (and art-house languor) one might expect. Two brothers have adjoining sheep ranches in a treeless, hilly landscape. Due to a longstanding feud, they don’t speak to one another; but when necessary, they find a way to communicate. (Their silent interactions provide much of the film’s dry humor.) The brothers’ prize rams compete for the top spot in a local livestock show. And then a crisis arises that threatens their livelihood, rattling the comfort of their mutual taciturnity.

Although the film focuses almost exclusively on the brothers, it takes time to depict much of the culture of sheep ranchers on the geographic and economic margin of Iceland. The matter-of-fact details of such lives, planted in an unforgiving natural setting, give weight to this little story.

Rams (reviews) (official site)
Directed and written by Grímur Hákonarson
Language: Icelandic
Awarded Un Certain Regard Prize, 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Running time: 92 minutes
DVD release date: June 28, 2016