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Godland

Original title: Vanskabte land
  • 2022
  • Unrated
  • 2h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.9K
YOUR RATING
Elliott Crosset Hove in Godland (2022)
At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.
Play trailer2:08
1 Video
99+ Photos
Drama

At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, h... Read allAt the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the Icelandic landscape, the more he loses a sense of his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty.

  • Director
    • Hlynur Pálmason
  • Writer
    • Hlynur Pálmason
  • Stars
    • Elliott Crosset Hove
    • Ingvar Sigurdsson
    • Vic Carmen Sonne
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    8.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hlynur Pálmason
    • Writer
      • Hlynur Pálmason
    • Stars
      • Elliott Crosset Hove
      • Ingvar Sigurdsson
      • Vic Carmen Sonne
    • 47User reviews
    • 97Critic reviews
    • 81Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 18 wins & 44 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:08
    Official Trailer

    Photos101

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    Top cast18

    Edit
    Elliott Crosset Hove
    Elliott Crosset Hove
    • Lucas
    Ingvar Sigurdsson
    Ingvar Sigurdsson
    • Ragnar
    • (as Ingvar Sigurðsson)
    Vic Carmen Sonne
    Vic Carmen Sonne
    • Anna
    Jacob Lohmann
    Jacob Lohmann
    • Carl
    • (as Jacob Hauberg Lohmann)
    Hilmar Guðjónsson
    Hilmar Guðjónsson
    • Translator
    Waage Sandø
    • Vincent
    Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir
    • Ida
    Snæbjörg Guðmundsdóttir
    • Snæsa
    Friðrik Hrafn Reynisson
    • Frikki
    Friðrik Friðriksson
    • Friðrik
    • (as Friðrik Snær Friðriksson)
    Gunnar Bragi Þorsteinsson
    • Gunnar
    Ingvar Þórðarson
    Ingvar Þórðarson
    • Wool & grass man
    Ingimundur Grétarsson
    • Postman
    Birta Gunnarsdóttir
    • Young Bride
    Ísar Svan Gautason
    • Young Groom
    Kristinn Guðmundsson
    • Wrestler
    Svanavatns Jökull Darri
    • Ragnars hund
    Guðmundur Samúelsson
    • Accordion Player
    • Director
      • Hlynur Pálmason
    • Writer
      • Hlynur Pálmason
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews47

    7.18.9K
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    Featured reviews

    8utah_cos

    Beautifully filmed tribute to the Icelandic landscape and the people that used to live there

    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.
    10Blue-Grotto

    A priest becomes a part of Iceland, but not in the way he desires

    Iceland is terrible and beautiful.

    A wooden trunk is uncovered with seven photographs in it from a hundred and fifty years ago in Iceland. The trunk belonged to a Danish priest who died there. Among the images are snow covered mountain ridges, a waterfall, glacier, and a portrait of a girl on a horse. Godland imagines the circumstances of how the photographs were taken.

    A young Danish priest, Lucas, is assigned to a remote Icelandic village. He is told to adapt to the people and place, but because he is arrogant, he does neither. Against the advice of his guide and despite freezing rain and snow, Lucas insists upon going into the mountains and crossing a treacherous river. By the time they make it to his assigned village, Lucas is miserable, detested, isolated, and barely alive. Lucas is destined to become a part of Iceland, but not in the way he desires.

    The sights and sounds of Godland are exquisite and resplendent. Listen to the women and birds singing, the ocean swells, the roar of a waterfall, a fierce river current, and volcano rumbling. Peer beneath the surface of the river, look across ice fields and canyons, see raindrops beginning to fall on smooth and sable stone, find your way through the thick fog, and gaze up close into a woman's eyes.

    One of Lucas' greatest mistakes is seeing himself apart from nature, animals, and the local people. In showing the cycles of the seasons, and of life and death, Godland gently makes us aware of this crime. It is just one of the many wonders and complexities of this compelling, visually stunning, and thought-provoking film.

    Godland premiered in Cannes and I saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival.
    7CinemaSerf

    Godland

    Fr. Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) is despatched by his bishop to a remote settlement in Iceland where he is charged with building a church and establishing a parish. Upon arrival, he is met by "Ragnar" (Ingvar Sigurdsson) - a rather unwelcoming man, who is tasked with guiding him to the hamlet many days trek away. Their journey tests the mettle of the young priest. The hostility of the environment, the indifference of his travelling companions, the cold, the wind, the rain - all of these make him consider seriously what he is doing and whether he actually has the faith. His exhaustion causes him to finally fall from his horse and upon wakening we discover that he has luckily arrived at his destination and is being nursed by "Anna" (Vic Carmen Sonne). He is broadly welcomed and the construction of his church proceeds but he is not a man at ease with his surroundings, his new-found parishioners and but for an increasingly close relationship with "Anna" would be an inch from despair. Is this a place where he can settle and live? The cinematography is gorgeous - make sure you take a jumper when you watch it. The sheer inhospitableness of this island. It was hardly a place for the indigenous ponies, it is certainly not a place for a clergyman used to home comforts now reduced to sleeping in a thin canvas tent! He was a photographer - and the film is inspired by a small collection of his photographs that were found. It was possibly this photography that he felt gave him a purpose as the man we see at the end bears little resemblance to the one we meet in Denmark at the beginning. This features a very strong performance from Hove. He manages the transformation of his character well and that encourages us to feel invested in him and his conflict. I did not enjoy, nor really understand, the last fifteen minutes. The story takes a turn for the brutal and the tragic in a way that seemed to me unnecessary and somewhat inexplicable. Cause and effect - but why? Perhaps I missed something? Anyway, this is well worth watching and though a bit long, is quite thought-provoking at times.
    7eddie_baggins

    A visual feast with an odd and hard to love story

    Unlikely to appeal to anyone seeking a film experience that features a straight forward narrative or easy to digest themes/events, Hlynur Pálmason's Denmark backed and Iceland shot epic is a film happy to enthral and mystify in equal measure, creating an offering that is at times majestic and at other times frustrating but one that at all times provides some of the most hauntingly beautiful captured imagery of the modern era.

    Inspired by a series of photographs discovered in Iceland that were taken by a visiting Danish priest in the early 19th century, Godland follows the adventures of Elliott Crosset Hove's young Danish priest Lucas who finds himself tasked with venturing to the rugged lands of Iceland to establish the good word of God only to find his mission constantly running into roadblocks, roadblocks that threaten to destroy Lucas's faith, his sanity and his very life.

    Creating an off-putting mood not dissimilar to the feeling the character of Lucas would be dealing with, Godland is an unnerving and uncomfortable film in many ways, as we like Lucas find ourselves in an unfamiliar setting with little context or background about what has come before and what is still too come and while at times early on it may appear as though Pálmason's film is heading in a certain direction, it remains an unpredictable and frequently surprising feature in ways both good and bad.

    Throughout this strange tale, seeped deep in Icelandic custom and lore, Pálmason and his director of photography Maria von Hausswolff create some of the most eye capturing imagery you're likely to see from the cinematic medium, from raging waterfalls, precarious cliff top paths or decomposing horses, Godland is overflowing with visual beauty that won't soon be forgotten by engaged viewers giving this film an almost Malick like majesty that its story and characters are unable to match.

    Most prominent with Lucas who is a hard central figure to warm too and joined by a plot-line that isn't always easy to understand from a point of view of clearly identifying its message or meanings, Godland isn't an easy film to fall in love with, despite its incredible artistic achievements, making it somewhat of a missed opportunity to create a modern day classic that explores themes of God, love and ones place in the wider world.

    Final Say -

    Visually one of the most spectacular and memorable offerings of the year, Godland's strange story and equally strange characters make it a film hard to warm too despite its many noteworthy technical accomplishments.

    3 1/2 fireside stories out of 5.

    Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
    6BornKnight

    More Visual than Meaningful

    A bit slow and vague to my personal taste the movie is divided in two parts that shows the travel and settlement of a young Danish priest (protestant) and photographer to a remote village on Iceland, on the 19th century (then a colony of Denmark, from 1376 to 1918), with distinct languages.

    The first part focus on the travel and hardship of the travel with the loss of a friend and rising animosity between the priest and some people of the party; the second part focus on the settlement of the priest and some of the locals, with rising of of disputes and claims, while he involves with the daughter of a local farmer and a builder that acompanished him the first part of the movie.

    The photography is marvelous with the Icelandic landscape and to a degree it shows the variation between the seasons and the body and soul of man, that loses gradually his aim and mission till he looses all of his former personality.

    But other than that it didn't have a really strong message being more a display of beauty in harshness landscapes and personalities than having a message on itself. For this I score it with a 6.5 out of 10.0 / B-.

    No likes yet.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The title of the film in Danish (Vanskabte Land) Icelandic translates to something more like "wretched land" or perhaps "godforsaken land" rather than "Godland" in the English title,
    • Goofs
      In one scene a character is seen playing a Scandalli accordion. This is an anachronism: the story takes place at the end of the 19th century while the Scandalli brothers began producing accordions in the early 20th century and the Scandalli company was founded in 1916.
    • Quotes

      Carl: Sorry, Lucas, but you must have fallen off your horse...

    • Crazy credits
      Seventeen horses and two dogs are credited as cast or extras. Three horses have 'in memory of' credits.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Radio Dolin: Oscars 2024: The Best Films from around the World (2023)
    • Soundtracks
      Det er hvidt herude
      Performed by Vic Carmen Sonne

      Lyrics by Steen Steensen Blicher

      Composed by Thomas Laub

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    FAQ18

    • How long is Godland?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 20, 2023 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Denmark
      • Iceland
      • France
      • Sweden
    • Official sites
      • Janus Films
      • New Europe Film Sales
    • Languages
      • Danish
      • Icelandic
    • Also known as
      • Земля Бога
    • Filming locations
      • Iceland
    • Production companies
      • Snowglobe Films
      • Join Motion Pictures
      • Maneki Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €5,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $60,735
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,560,518
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 23m(143 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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