Hlynur Pálmason's "Godland"

"Godland", the new film by Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason, is rife with contradictions. The English international title suggests a blessed or divine land, a place that has been converted into a bastion of religious worship and adoration. Whereas the literal translation of the Icelandic or Danish title is "wretched land", which is a more apt description of the place depicted in the film. Visually speaking, "Godland" is a showcase of 19th-century rural Iceland's majestic beauty, with its landscapes, hills, snowscapes, falls, river and sea. Never has this specific Nordic geography been better captured on film. And yet, it is this same beauty that imposes some cruel challenges and impediments on the fulfillment of a religious mission. Nature can indeed be terrifying. Regarding the film's main character, a young Danish Lutheran priest named Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), his mission and intention of setting up a church in a foreign land may seem noble and admirable at first. But as he goes further with his mission and as challenges pile up one after another, whether physical, moral or spiritual in nature, it is ultimately revealed that he has nothing but disdain and contempt toward the people that supposedly he wants to bring closer to God, most especially toward his Icelandic guide Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson). It can be said that Ragnar is the brutish foil to Lucas' avowed holiness, not very much unlike the kind of dynamics that we read in a Joseph Conrad story. What is more telling though is how the priest's behavior evokes the lasting mark of colonialism. 

Thus said, "Godland" is an exploration of the conflict between individual and nature, between personal mission and communal reality, between what is divine and what is human. It is a beautiful and deep film. Not only ravishing images abound, but conflicted emotions and thought-provoking ideas as well. This film demonstrates for once what cinema can truly be. "Godland" should have been the talk of the town after it premiered at the Cannes film festival last year and should have figured prominently in the awards season in the later part of the year. It was even more deserving of the main competition slot when compared to such films as "Close" and "Holy Spider", both of which turn out to have some storytelling issues. But unfortunately, it got overshadowed by the likes of "Triangle of Sadness" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once". As a matter of fact, when it comes to ambition, originality and daringness, "Godland" can prove to be of equal match to those two much-hyped films - if not more. While it cannot be denied that there are things to admire about "TOS" and "EEAAO", I may not really be thinking about these two for a long time. They may be out of my mind already until Ruben Östlund and the Daniels have another film coming out. On the other hand, I am quite certain that "Godland" will stick with me for as long as I can remember. 

When Ragnar gradually comes to the realization of how essential it is to have God in one's life and thereby asks Lucas to help him to be close to Him, it is then that the priest outrightly dismisses and insults the local guide. Ragnar readily confesses and asks forgiveness for his sins, but the animosity of Lucas is to such an extent that it leads to one harrowing act. Even so, the priest still goes on to hold a mass in the newly-built church. But then, nature conspires to make it known to him that he has become unworthy to preach the word of God. Even before this, Lucas began to engage in a carnal relationship with the elder daughter of the landowner who took him in during one time that he got sick for an unspecified period of time. There is no dearth in cinema of priests who face certain challenges in pursuing their religious path. But in more ways than one, "Godland" is no "The Mission" or "Priest" or "Silence". It is a truly unique cinematic experience. 

Perhaps, Pálmason will not really be that "accessible" to a wide audience. It is because his stories are not that "appealing" and he takes extra-special care, even literally, in presenting them. Take a look at the several stunning time-lapse sequences in "Godland" (also seen in "A White, White Day"), painstakingly shot over several seasons and weather changes. Come to think of it, "Godland" is more enjoyable to watch than "TOS" and "EEAAO" combined (there are undercurrents of black humor in the film and, again, the awe-inspiring boxed-ratio images). While "A White, White Day" is close to being a genre film. 

"Godland" is only the third feature-length film of Pálmason (following "Winter Brothers", also with Hove and "A White, White Day", also with Sigurdsson), but with each work he exhibits a clear and distinct directorial voice. Just like the American directors Paul Thomas Anderson (at least with his early films) and Damien Chazelle, each succeeding film of his is more ambitious, more demanding and more imaginative than the last one, like a gradual stepping-stone towards a heavenly summit. Put "Godland" alongside the other Cannes films that came out last year, as well as the contenders or frontrunners in the current awards season, it certainly dwarfs (to use the term of one critic who champions the film) them in terms of scope, ambition and ideas. Pálmason is no joke.