Purportedly the first locally produced feature film ever made in Greenland, "Nuummioq" is an engagingly low-key and increasingly contemplative look at a man's journey across land and water to new-found self-awareness. Never less than a pleasure to behold thanks to the stunning landscapes and nimble handheld lensing, the mischievously humorous picture maintains an unemphatic but steady grip on its protag's largely unarticulated emotional awakening. Unassuming, sympathetic effort will gain automatic entree to fests around the world based on the novelty of its origins alone and has a sliver of commercial potential in specialized Euro and North American markets.
That the film has turned out well at all perhaps rates as a mild surprise, not only because of the lack of filmmaking infrastructure in the sparsely populated nation (which is still largely administered by Denmark), but also because of its fractured production history; original director Otto Rosing reportedly became severely depressed and departed the production immediately after principal photography was finished in the summer of 2008, whereupon screenwriter Torben Bech assumed co-director status and oversaw editing and post-production with producer Mikisoq H. Lynge.
As it is, the pic is marked by a fleet editing style that skips from moment to moment while still allowing the story's meditative aspects to take hold, although some patchwork is visible via the abundant layering of moody pop tunes, many of them in English. Importantly, however, the storytelling maintains its throughline and slowly develops heft despite the relative ordinariness of most of the action.
Title refers to "residents of Nuuk," the small capital city of the giant, largely ice-covered island. The main resident in question is Malik (Lars Rosing, the original director's brother), a ruggedly attractive blond carpenter who's good with his hands -- he's an expert outdoorsman and has no trouble getting women -- but spends most of his time bumming around with his cousin and best friend, Michael (Angunnguaq Larsen), and rotund buddy Carsten (Morten Rose) who, early on, endures a painful overdose of Viagra. The horizons around Nuuk appear distinctly limited and Malik seems to lead a thoroughly unexamined life.
All that changes when he gets some bad medical news that sends him on a boat journey with Michael to a remote and strikingly barren area where unexpected encounters with death, long-ignored family skeletons and the simple power of nature lift Malik, if not to an exalted sense of his place in the grand scheme of things, then at least to a clear-eyed view of his condition and priorities.
Considerable sensory and sensual gratification stems from the superb, assuredly unfamiliar settings, which include iceberg-bearing bays, stark, rocky terrain and bracing coastal areas; Bo Bilstrup's crystalline widescreen lensing; the great beauty of Julie Berthelsen, who plays Malik's far more mature ladyfriend; and the unusual string-plucked musical offerings of composer Soren Hyldgaard. Performances are agreeably naturalistic.
I saw this a couple of months ago...
To be honest it dissapointed me a bit, but it was a great movie nonetheless...
I gave it a 7 (or 6, not exactly sure yet) out of 10.
Just out of curiosity:Have you seen atanarjuat?Was the movie which came to mind when I read this post.Very good movie,but abit long.oh,and it is very beautifully filmed too.If you have seen it:do they have similar story?
Just out of curiosity:Have you seen atanarjuat?Was the movie which came to mind when I read this post.Very good movie,but abit long.oh,and it is very beautifully filmed too.If you have seen it:do they have similar story?
It's a wonderful movie!
But they have nothing in common, none whatsoever..
Bottom Line: The first international feature from Greenland is a stunning triumph on all accounts.
PARK CITY -- More than just a curiosity item as the first feature from Greenland, "Nuummioq" is a startlingly accomplished piece of filmmaking, all the more so considering many of the cast and crew are non-professionals. Anchored by a riveting performance by Lars Rosing as a robust young man diagnosed with terminal cancer, the film is not easy going or for all audiences, but those willing to venture there will be rewarded with a deeply-felt, finely realized film. Obviously not a multiplex item, "Nuummioq" should be a welcome entry on the festival circuit and a natural for a discriminating audience at home.
Filmed in Greenlandic (a wrong word was used, I fixed) and Danish around Nuuk, the capital of Greenland (the title means a resident of Nuuk), "Nuummioq" calls to mind Ingmar Bergman and other somber filmmakers from the North Country. But it is a movie full of vitality as it captures the rhythms (slow) and speech (limited) of life in a country rarely seen onscreen. While certain aspects are specific and unfamiliar, daily events are not that different for anyone else living on the planet.
Lars (Rosing) hunts, carouses with his friends and womanizes. He is the classic strong-and-silent type (reminiscent of a young Russell Crowe), but he has a sea of emotion under the surface. The film starts with him horsing around with his buddies about Viagra, and in a bar scene the camera lingers on the breasts of a young woman who picks him up. But directors Otto Rosing and Torben Bech (who also wrote the screenplay), have much more on their minds. This is just the starting point.
On a trip to the hospital with his Viagra-stricken friend, Lars passes out. Tests are done and he finds out he doesn't have much time left. Afterwards, he sits in his pick-up truck and stares, nothing is said but all the feeling is visible on his face. It's an extraordinary moment and a great piece of acting.
Lars gets on with is life, such as it is now. He tells no one, not the elderly and loving, but equally silent, grandparents he lives with, or his cousin and best friend Mikael (Angunnguaq Larsen), or his sometime girlfriend (Julie Berthelsen). All of them are holding a secret from the past, and now Lars is holding two secrets.
On a boat trip with Mikael on breathtakingly beautiful fjords, amidst the nature that has informed his life, Lars comes to terms with his fate and settles some scores from the past. This is not a film with a great deal of action, at least on the surface, but the transformation of a good man is almost a miracle to watch.
Rosing and Bech never push the point too far or too heavily. Showing amazing restraint for first-time directors, they stand back and observe, always having the camera in the right place. Credit must also go to Danish cinematographer Bo Bilstrup, working only with two lamps purchased at Ikea, for expertly capturing the shadows of life in Greenland.
Other tech credits, executed by a crew of pros from Denmark and amateurs from Greenland, are surprisingly smooth. The indigenous score by Niels Ostenfeld and songs from local artists are used to great effect and complement the story without overpowering it. Thanks to the communal contribution of all involved, "Nuummioq" is that rare kind of film where you can feel the weight and meaning of a kiss.
I personally am not as enthusiastic as the reviewer, but it's fair in my opinion...
I think the strongest aspect of this movie is the leads relationship to his cousin in this movie.
There's a few great laughs that really helps the movie.
A U.S. company must now make sure that the movie also comes out in the big world.
'Nuummioq', history's first Greenlandic film*, impresses audiences and critics at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the USA.
The film's producer, Mikisoq Hove Lynge says that it appears six times in total at the festival in Park City, that was founded by actor and director Robert Redford.
- The audience weeps, where they should, and they laugh when they should. After the impressions they can ask questions, and Americans find it extremely interesting that we have made our own films in a society with less than 60,000 inhabitants, says producer Ritzau.
'Nuummioq' compete for awards in the category World Cinema Competition, and has received prestigious mention in American media.
Magazine Hollywood Reporter called the film 'an astonishing triumph' and 'a surprisingly complete production' with regard to many of the actors and people behind the camera is not professional.
- The film will not be easy to go to for any audience, but those who have the courage to see it, is rewarded with a deeply felt and elegantly implemented movies, reads the notification.
The
movie exists only in one copy, as shown in Sundance.
But Mikisoq H. Lynge has hired a U.S. company XYZ Films to sell the rights to distribute 'Nuummioq' in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
- I hope to sign the first agreements in a few days. I myself have rights in Greenland and Denmark, and I've bet the farm to get the movie up in Denmark. Danes should of course be able to see this tale of what Greenland is today, he explains.
* The first independently made by greenlandic people I must add.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
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Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
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Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
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Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
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South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Variety's review of Nuummioq. Is also in the Sundance competition.
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