Variety hefur bæst í hóp annarra helstu kvikmyndamiðla sem gefa kvikmynd Benedikts Erlingssonar, Kona fer í stríð, hæstu einkunn. Jay Weissberg, gagnrýnandi miðilsins, spáir myndinni mikilli velgengni á veraldarvísu.
Í umsögn segir meðal annars:
Is there anything rarer than an intelligent feel-good film that knows how to tackle urgent global issues with humor as well as a satisfying sense of justice? Look no further than “Woman at War,” Benedikt Erlingsson’s gloriously Icelandic (for lack of a better adjective), near-perfect follow-up to “Of Horses and Men,” featuring an environmental activist modestly taking on the world, one electric pylon at a time. Commentators will be tumbling over themselves trying to define what kind of movie this is: comedy, musical, social drama, politically correct issue film. It’s all those except the last; political correctness implies one-dimensional preaching that narrowly cuts off conversations, whereas, whereas “Woman at War” deftly centralizes a profound humanity from which vital issues are comfortably suspended. Bound to be one of the hot sellers at this year’s Cannes, the film is likely to do bang up business worldwide.
Og ennfremur:
Thematically, “Woman at War” sounds so easy: a righteous topic, a sense of solidarity for the things that count, a satisfying stand by one woman against the powerful forces of industry. Erlingsson’s genius lies in how he puts it all together with such witty intelligence, arranging beautifully shot picaresque episodes around a central figure who lives the ideals of the heroes she has hanging on her wall, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The adoption subtheme is a crucial element in it all, as it concretizes her role as mother and caretaker, one small country, one small child at a time.
Grounding everything is Geirharðsdóttir’s splendid performance(s), fleshing out Halla’s character as a grassroots Robin Hood with warmth and quiet determination. Juan Camillo Roman Estrada makes a welcome comeback from “Of Horses and Men” as a luckless Spanish-speaking tourist whose foreign-ness makes him an instant target of police suspicion in the insular Icelandic countryside. All three musicians, playing piano, accordion, trumpet, tuba and percussion, contrast detached yet supportive glances with an almost organic presence in each of their scenes, while the Ukrainian singing trio, on the one hand out of place, lend a sense of global cohesion with their distinctive harmonies.
As he did with Erlingsson’s previous feature, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson again proves himself a master of capturing the tranquil beauty of the Icelandic landscape, ultra-sensitive to lighting (color grading is also superb) and the joys of the unexpected. When Sveinbjörn gently immerses Halla in a hot spring, shown from above on camera, it’s hard not to have a similar feeling of relief, and when she lies her face down in the flowering undergrowth, we enjoy a similar connection to nature. Sound design is also flawless.
Sjá nánar hér: Cannes Film Review: ‘Woman at War’
