Review by sharonkathleenjohnson

It's bracing to see the austere spirit of Bergman and Haneke played out once again in such minimalist stentorian tones. Cold yet deeply authentic, Ravens pulls no punches when it comes to raw human nature and family rupture. It felt very real to me, coming as I do from Finnish farming roots--the gravitational drag of intergenerational obligation, the family suicides and insanity, the endless thankless backbreaking labor underlying all of life. The rebellion of the spirit against this monolithic yoke of family inheritance is carried out on many levels as young and old alike strive for individuality and the illusion of freedom. Guilt fuels all virtue. What a monument to Scandinavian landscape--both of the heart and of the land!