BFI London Film Festival 2018: Woman at War

Independent, feisty 40-something Halla leads a double life as an undercover environmental activist. She’s declared a one-woman war on the local aluminium industry to protect her homeland’s pristine Highlands. As Halla’s acts of sabotage grow ever more extreme, Erlingsson ingeniously blends the traditional (sheep, landscape, family bonds) with the modern (drones, thermal cameras, CCTV), using the most idiosyncratic of soundtracks to mine a unique seam of humour, but never detracting from the gravitas of Halla’s campaign. Charming and smartly plotted, the quirky gags keep cantering along (I mean, how many uses can there be for a dead ram?). This is delightful, mature and hugely enjoyable filmmaking – a call to arms that delivers laughs hand-in-hand with an urgent political and human message.

Sarah Lutton

Dir Benedikt Erlingsson
With Halldóra Geirharõsdóttir, Davíõ Þór Jónsson, Ómar Guõjónsson
Iceland-France-Ukraine
2018, 100min, Subtitles

Screenings

Friday 19 October 2018 21:00 Picturehouse Central, Screen 1

Sunday 21 October 2018 15:00 Cine Lumiere