Visually Stunning and Bleak: A Top Contender for the Decade’s Most Beautiful Film

‘Godland’, which was directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason and received praise from critics upon its premiere in 2022, is among the most aesthetically spectacular dramas in recent memory. Elliott Crosset Hove plays Lucas, a Danish priest who is sent to a remote Icelandic town in the late 19th century to construct a parish church. Lucas is left alone and unable to speak to anyone after the untimely death of his translator. He makes friends with Anna, his host Carl’s daughter, while he works at the church. But as the narrative goes on, Lucas’s moral character starts to falter.
Under the direction of Maria von Hausswolff, the film’s photography is exceptional, showing the expansive, treeless Icelandic countryside in stunning detail. The film’s examination of moral conflict and loneliness is enhanced by its visual brilliance. The mise-en-scène is used to gently criticize the church’s moral authority in the opening scenes, which are set in Denmark and include Lucas receiving his mission. The scene where an elderly cleric talks to Lucas and eats a hearty meal, for example, reveals the inconsistencies in the organization and the complexity of Lucas’s personality.
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The film’s purposeful speed reflects Iceland’s slower, rougher way of life in contrast to Denmark. Long takes reinforces Lucas’s sense of alienation by emphasizing the enormous emptiness of the surroundings. Lucas’s loneliness is highlighted with a two-minute 360-degree video of a communal celebration that contrasts with it. Each scene’s austere 4:3 framing throughout highlights the film’s minimalist location and reaffirms the moral degradation theme. A crucifix floating away on the tide is one of the cinematic sequences that represents Lucas’s lack of morality. ‘Godland’ asks viewers to consider if Lucas is shaped by the land or if his changing moral decisions will influence the island.
–Farheen Ali