utah_cos

The film has some amazing imagery, it is intriguing, it has drama, mistery and above all, it shows the dominant force of nature, that is depicted as far more powerful than the ephemeral characters that try to make a living on earth.

I found it as an odd to nature, to specifically the Icelandic harsh but majestic natural landscape and to the way people used to respect this. It is a great movie in many ways.

However, it's plot is slow-moving, the scenes are extremely long, do not expect to be entertained as it is the complete opposite of a fast-action, Hollywood-style movie. It is often rather boring and there is the real danger that the 2 hours and 23 minutes to pass rather slow to you as it did to me. I has the impression that the movie could have been just as deep and beautiful lasting only say 1 hours and 45 minutes.

'I did not understand what was the movie about!' complained someone as we discussed The Lost Daughter. 'It was about many things, but not in a typical Hollywood way' I replied. But later I realised: the film can give you this impression because it attempts to normalise feelings and actions that are otherwise frequently judged and criticised.

In a phrase, the movie is about a single women on holiday in a small but dull beach resort in Greece as she tries to cope with her past actions and feelings. Nothing out of the ordinary really happens but this I think is the underlying force of the movie, that actions of dispare, of depression, of abandonment are explained in a truly sophisticated way. Viewers end up understanding the main character and resonating with feelings that might be totally strange to us.

The movie is also a very positive one, in spite of its rather sombre atmosphere. Another one of its messages is that life move on. And implicitly that we should move on. Nearly falling into depression, the main character picks itself up literary at the very end and smiles again. That smile and the laughter is the true cherry on top of this great movie. Olivia Colman is superb, by the way. She plays a very unassuming, even banal middle-age lady and she manages to embody the character so well that you often forget Olivia Colman is actually there. Pure genius. Top Oscar contender for sure.

Finally, the movie is also feminist but in a subtle, extremely inteligent way. The main character is someone who has always taken the life in her own hands and managed to find a way, build a life in a very independent way. This are not things said but shown and communicated in a thorough way.

I see the excitement for this movie in Estonia were it became the most watched film ever and can understand it. It is a great, beautiful screen adaptation of 'the national' Estonian novel. The plot reminded me of those bigger than life novels, that manage to portray one's life from the beginning to the end, encapsulating a whole world in it. Think of Lev Tolstoy or Charles Dickens. Speaking of Tolstoy, the whole story has a certain Russian air in it, even if some Estonians might not sympathise with my opinion. The dark, almost macabre atmosphere; the lack of any joy; the harshness of the characters; the cold, unsaturated colours used in the movie; the sorrow and despair; and maybe above all the feeling that life is an inescapable damnation, all reminded me of the great Russian literature.

Do not get me wrong, the movie is great, the storyline is great as well. The main message of the movie that are also the opening lines can serve as a great life lesson. The movie is not a depressing one, it is about how to learn from someone's else mistakes and how indeed the children of the main character do learn. In addition, it is beautifully acted, with superb cinematography, beautifully filmed, great music. It is a truly complete and well-made movie that deserves the 3M bucks Estonia invested in it as part of its 100 years anniversary as an independent state. In spite of its national significance, the story is not specific Estonian and people worldwide can easily relate to it.