The title as double-meaning may be a bit on-the-nose, but there’s a solidly effective story at the core of Grímur Hákonarson’s off-beat comedy-drama. In a rural Icelandic valley, aging, long-estranged brothers Gummi (Sigurđur Sigurjónsson) and Kiddi (Theodór Júlíusson) both face losing their prized sheep herds when their neighboring farms are affected by a rare infectious disease. Hákonarson keeps the reason for the brothers’ feud unspoken for a surprisingly long time, but the specific issue proves less vital than how each man responds to a situation that threatens to rob them of the only thing they have in their lives, since they no longer have each other. A vein of dark humor also runs throughout, most notably when Gummi has to deal with one of Kiddi’s many episodes of blackout drunkenness. There may be a bit too much burden placed on images of the stark landscape, as well as that metaphor of two stubborn males butting into one another like … well, you know. There’s still emotional resonance to the final scenes, which find these men forced to decide if there’s ultimately one thing they share that can reunite them.
By
Scott Renshaw