One review on 18 Mar 2023

Iceland 2013

Running time: 78 mins

Of Horses and Men

Hross í oss

Director : Benedikt Erlingsson 

Setting: Iceland
Original language: Icelandic
Summary: Icelandic valley wild pony breeding community - four interwoven tales about men (and women) and their horses.


Aspect Ratio: 2.35 (anamorphic)

Colour: Colour


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First Seen: Sat 18th Mar 2023
Catalogued: 19th Mar 2023

Synopsis

The man and the woman, his mare and her stallion. The stallion gets the mare and the man is mortified with embarrasment. The mare and the stallion must atone.

Another man loves vodka and his horse loves to swim. A passing russian trawler sells then vodka when they swim out but warm him not to drink it neat. He drinks it neat. The community attends a funeral.

A third man likes to ride the old roads on his horse, but a man with a tractor has fenced of the road across his land. The man with a horse has wirecutters, but the wire has tension. A bloody vision meets the man on the tractor and he swerves off the road and over the cliff to avoid it.

A young woman who the cyclist likes finds an old man with a bloody face. Again the commnity attends a funeral, but it is not the bloody man's.

A Colombian cyclist wants to ride, but the horse he is given is old and slow and he gets left behind, A snowstorm sets in and night falls. There is only one way to keep warm.

In the autumn the mountain ponies are rounded up, all the community lends a hand. The woman is determined to ride with first man. All comes good as the community unites.

Reviews

by rogerco on Sat 18th Mar 2023 DVD proj @ home (Subtitled)

Charming funny enjoyable

Summary

Probably the best film ever about people and their horses

Full review

Lovely intertwining stories giving a sense of a very rural community where horses are an integral part of life for the inhabitants of the remote valley.

Several separate stories meld together in a satisfying way producing light comedy, romance, drama and a satisfying conclusion.

Excellent photography, great acting by the horses (icelandic semi-feral  ponies) and the humans (seldom have actors looked so at homeon a horse).

Featuring the first appearance of the Colombian touring cyclist who also pops up for light relief in Benedikt Erlingsson's 2018 follow-up film "Woman at War" which is also excellent.

A classic good film, with many things to like and not a foot put wrong. More like this please.