*spoiler-free till half-way*
I wanted to like this film. It has beautiful images from the area and herding of reindeer and costumes from the Sami people. Although it's obvious that most of the actors aren't professionals, I think it's important for the message of the movie that they are played by Sami people and overall they do a decent job.
My issue is with the writing. The film touches on many interesting topics: unemployment among the villagers, the opening of a mine that will bring jobs, but will also interfere with the herding of the reindeer, the distrust between Sami people and the other villagers, alcoholism, depression and suicide among young people. Even the grandmother with beginning dementia and Elsa wondering if she should leave for university could have been interesting plot points. Enough topics to fill a multiple season show! All of these topics are touched upon briefly, but none of them is worked out properly, leaving me either wanting to know more or just not interested.
*big spoilers from here* Then there's the plot of the movie. Villagers kill reindeer to try and chase away the Sami people, because they prefer mining over herding reindeer. A young girl sees one of the killers but is afraid to say anything and ten years later, as a young woman, she wants to finally catch him. It could've been an exciting thriller-like plot. Sadly, the action is too slow, most characters just lack urgency or logic. Most of the plot is Elsa telling her elders or the police what happened and they denying her story over and over again. Then in the end, she tells the story to the police again and now they believe her, because the guy's already dead and they find the dead reindeer in his shed. The story just left me very unsatisfied. I think with better writing and better directing, it could have been an exciting story in an original setting with a strong message, but now it's sadly a mediocre film.
And finally: what about that mine? Did it ever open? Did the Sami fight back? It's never been spoken of again and the story ends with a sentimental message.
My issue is with the writing. The film touches on many interesting topics: unemployment among the villagers, the opening of a mine that will bring jobs, but will also interfere with the herding of the reindeer, the distrust between Sami people and the other villagers, alcoholism, depression and suicide among young people. Even the grandmother with beginning dementia and Elsa wondering if she should leave for university could have been interesting plot points. Enough topics to fill a multiple season show! All of these topics are touched upon briefly, but none of them is worked out properly, leaving me either wanting to know more or just not interested.
*big spoilers from here* Then there's the plot of the movie. Villagers kill reindeer to try and chase away the Sami people, because they prefer mining over herding reindeer. A young girl sees one of the killers but is afraid to say anything and ten years later, as a young woman, she wants to finally catch him. It could've been an exciting thriller-like plot. Sadly, the action is too slow, most characters just lack urgency or logic. Most of the plot is Elsa telling her elders or the police what happened and they denying her story over and over again. Then in the end, she tells the story to the police again and now they believe her, because the guy's already dead and they find the dead reindeer in his shed. The story just left me very unsatisfied. I think with better writing and better directing, it could have been an exciting story in an original setting with a strong message, but now it's sadly a mediocre film.
And finally: what about that mine? Did it ever open? Did the Sami fight back? It's never been spoken of again and the story ends with a sentimental message.