In Iceland, we are told by writer/director Grímur Hákonarson,
there are more sheep than people, which is a testament to the importance of
sheep in Iceland. They are animals as revered as the cattle in India.
Two estranged brothers, Gummi and Kiddi, sheep farmers who
have inherited their family sheep ranch, have split the property and live in
separate houses next to each other but they haven’t spoken to each other in 40 years.
Every year there’s a fierce competition for the trophy of
who has raised the best sheep in the valley. And every year the same brother
wins it causing a rift between them that can never be healed. But this year is
different.
This is a compassionate heartwarming and somewhat absurdly comical
but tragic tale of how two stubborn brothers living close to each other are
actually worlds apart and communicate only grudgingly by way of written
messages carried by a sheep dog.
The remote Icelandic sheep valley is breathtakingly beautiful
but as barren and bleak as the distant relationship between Gummi and Kiddi. Both
are preparing their ancestral breed of sheep for this year’s competition with
the utmost focus and fanatical dedication. Nothing is too bizarre or outlandish
when it comes to sheep breeding.
But when Gummi discovers symptoms of a deadly disease spreading
among their flocks, the news, coming just after Kiddi boastes of having won the
1st prize once again for the best Ram in the valley, is devastating
to both brothers. It is determined by the community that all the sheep in the
valley must be destroyed to eradicate the disease.
They try hard to save their flocks by hiding them from the
authorities but eventually realize that to save their way of life they must
work together and put aside their differences. Now without their sheep, their
brotherly bond, unacknowledged till now, is stronger than they ever imagined.
Rams is a
cautionary tale about the extreme lengths that people will go to, to prove a
point that eventually becomes insignificant next to the power of love that
cannot be explained. This film is a heartfelt crowd-pleaser, a humanist drama
that is the perfect antidote for our present cruelly competitive world we live
in.
Our obsessions and greed for having the most or being the
best are destroying the relationships we should be cultivating, not to mention
the natural beauty around us as long as we continue to be so arrogant and
preoccupied with accumulating wealth or prizes that we cannot acknowledge and
respect as equals, others in our diverse community and those around the world
who do not meet our own standards.
Rams has a
deceptively deep message with large metaphorical implications for the world at
large but told in a very simple disarming story. We can enjoy it as a charming
local folk tale from a remote culture, or we can apply its symbolic meaning, as
many of the best folk tales do, to a much larger context.
Rams is Iceland’s
official Oscar entry for 2016 Academy Awards and winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s
Cannes film festival. It’s a wonderfully told, thought provoking tale that has
suspense, comedy, tragedy and a great cast of characters from a culture not
often portrayed in film.
JP
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