Gegen den Strom

Woman At War: Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is angry. Angry at Rio Tinto whose smelter is damaging the pristine environment of Iceland. So she takes direct action, sabotaging electricity pylons, cutting off power to the smelter. There is more than just the smelter involved though. Halla's actions are putting at stake a resources exploitation deal between China and Iceland. Halla's gets inside information from a senior civil servant, Baldvin (Jörundur Ragnarsson), Baldvin is now worried that Halla will be caught, a satellite will be used to track her, and tries to persuade her to just issue a manifesto. Halaa gas another reason to reconsider her actions: she has been approved to adopt a girl.

This is a political thriller, a comedy with surreal overtones, an eco-action film. But foremost it is about the indomitable spirit of one woman who will have to make hard choices. When Halla is pursued by helicopters and drones she hides in crevices, uses the carcass of a dead sheep to fool heat-seeking radar. Discovers a long lost cousin, farmer Sveinbjörn (Jóhann Sigurðarson), who helps her escape. A three piece band and choir trio appear incongruously in scenes. Eventually the surreal turns existential, Halla goes to a rooftop to scatter copies of her manifesto, the band enter the action and tweet images of her proclamation,

Director & co-writer Benedikt Erlingsson delivers a delightful, funny but hard-hitting drama. 8/10.