Rams

When I started watching I did not realise it was a remake of the Icelandic film I had seen a few years ago.

For the most part it worked, but it wasn't as humorous as I had expected it to be.

As ever Sam Neill is eminently watchable. Normally the same can be said of Michael Caton but his character for the most part was so obnoxious it was difficult to come to terms with.

Nice nod to Steve Marriott and Humble Pie, not only in the sound track but also the tee shirt!

Inspired by the sensational Icelandic picture of the same tale (where funnily enough, the sheep were credited as actors), Rams is a 2020 Australian screenplay of writer Jules Duncan, a former TV reporter with Channel 9 and GWN.

Starring Sam Neill, the film depicts the story of the striking illness that spreads through the local sheep flocks in Western Australia, causing chaos among the local farmers. Brothers Les and Colin are made to set aside their differences and help fight back against the governmental authorities, in order to protect their animals.

Most movie's featuring animals as their core narrative possess a heart-warming and comforting tone to accompany the delicate and at-times saddening rhythm that is seen on-screen. There is also a more communal film with productions outside the usual American / English billboards, giving the spectacle a more communal display and allowing you as the audience to immerse yourself in empathy of the characters, offering you to feel a part of the story, and connect with the personalities within.

Amassing over $4.3 million in a Box Office struck by COVID-19 preventing a strong cinematic turnover, Rams is a film with compassion, illustrating a devastating crisis in a wonderful, sincere way, its honest form bodes well with perfect dry humour to compliment its tinged sorrow.

I would usually make an overall summarisation in a few lines of what a surprising movie this was, but no one puts it better than Leigh Paatsch of the Herald Sun who said, "At times, it is as charming a (blackish) comedy as they come. At others, it is a strikingly well-observed drama."

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. It appears to be an almost exact remake of a 2015 Icelandic movie of the same name, but this one is set in Western Australia.

Two brothers in their 70s live adjacent to each other. Their homes are about a pitching wedge distance apart. But they never speak to each other, it has been that way for over 40 years. They never really explain why but it is hinted the older brother is angry that the deceased dad gave all the property to the younger brother who allows the older to remain living and working there.

The brothers raise prized rams that carry an ancient lineage and in yearly contests the ram of one or the other always wins first place. Tragedy strikes when it is discovered that a disease is infecting the sheep and all animals are ordered destroyed. But one brother has an idea to bypass the system when he believes his rams are not infected.

We enjoyed the movie mainly for the actors. If this had been "based on real events" it might have been more interesting. But overall, while it is entertaining most of the time, there is not particular substantial message here. It is a low risk movie to watch on a Saturday evening after dinner.

I run a small cheese and yogurt making facility serving the dairy sheep farming community of upstate NY. We pasture our dairy shepherds' dry flocks on our farm. Communities like this are quite interconnected as depicted in the movie Rams.

The diseases bugs and parasites are no joke. In dry dry WA they didn't mention what happens when their feet are perpetually wet outdoors. And even in a good year, there's quite a lot of heartbreak because not all the lambs make it.

You can start to feel beset from all sides: the elements, contagious disease, other people, the government, and you yourself chief among them. You have your whole life invested in a way of life. All of these elements were pretty realistically portrayed in this movie.

Given the topic, I did not expect it to be a laugh riot, but the setting, the writing and the acting brought a gentle and refreshing perspective on what can seem like a slog when you are in the thick of it yourself.

I've seen both versions and in my opinion this Australian remake of the Icelandic original is superior. Though 20 minutes longer, it successfully wall - papers over the main points of criticism of the original. There's more humour, an explanation offered for the brothers' enmity (a valid criticism of the original) and a far more satisfactory ending, with much less ambiguity.

The Great Southern Region of Western Australia proves an excellent substitute for the admittedly stunning Icelandic rural locations and Sam Neill contributes a superlative, warmly amusing turn, as the pastoralist brother who just can't quite let go. It really is the stand-out performance of both films. Ewe shouldn't miss it.