Iceman

...interesting for the reasonable version of Otzi life, for cinematography and for the status of experiment, for the tension and desire to recreate a lost world. I t is easy to critic this movie but, in my case, preserving the fascination about the discover of the Otzi mummy, the film represents a decent answer to a history who could only be imagined. So, easy to propose comparations or discover mistakes. But the essence remains interesting and the effort is not minor for recreate an entire fascinating universe. So, a not bad revenge story.

In 1991, a frozen dead man is found in the Alps. He's been there for 5300 years. "This is his story." Kelab returns from hunting to find his settlement burnt down and his family massacred. A three man war party had come to steal a relic.

It's a little slow to start. It's trying to be authentic which includes limited dialogue and everybody looking like the same caveman. The sets and the costumes seem very authentic. Rather quickly, this gets brutally violent and it's a revenge plot. It becomes a harsh western and that's quite compelling. This can be slow at times especially with the quiet. Nevertheless, this is a simple and effective tale of a brutal age.

It's not that "Iceman" is a great film - not in the caliber of, say, 'Amadeus' or 'The Godfather' - but it does have its own story to tell, and in a way you won't see that much. At the beginning of the film, there's this disclaimer: "The characters in the following film speak an early version of the Rhaetic language. Translation is not required to comprehend the story." And it's true. 'Iceman' is basically a revenge film akin to almost every Chinese martial arts (Wuxia) movie or even Lone Wolf & Cub. Apart from the scarcity of language, the cinematography of the eastern Alps is breathtaking. You can almost call 'Iceman' neolithic Nordic noir for the blues on display as well as the general moodiness and bleak surroundings. Interesting in this day and age to release a near-silent film, but I think this one works.

Loved the simplicity of this tale, brutal & stunningly beautiful from the get-go! Stunning cinematography & excellent camera work. I won't say anymore because I believe going in on this one blind, is absolutely the way to go!

9/10 - Solid ancient & epic tale of revenge.

There are several surprises in the story and they don't make sense. In the course of his travels through the Netherlands our hero he was seeking revenge against those who killed his wife/girlfriends/I don't know the relationship because nobody speaks English, this is a movie without dialogue, which has to carry itself just on the effect of the actors upon each other and what they receive from the surrounding cascade. One scene that doesn't understand my comprehension is the same before this. He's traveling along going up a creek bed and then all of a sudden he's gotta goat and I suppose that's to feed the baby that he rescued from the destruction of his village. Now the goat has short-lived necessity as he slaughters it and cooks it and then all of a sudden he has friends that want to eat the goat with him, at this time, the baby that he's been carrying around for about 2/3 of the movie, he palms off on the new friends and he goes looking for revenge against those who killed his family and his village and birth, etc. So he's on the trail of these bad people and for some reason they go over a vast mountain range where there's no shelter no food and no purpose to be there. But his journey goes on to find those bad people and that's all I can say without giving away the ending.