direction: Peter Flint | Scenario: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Derek | spit: Nikolai Coster-Waldau (Ignar Mikkelsen), Joe Cole (Iver Iverson), Charles Dance (Nirgaard), Gisley Oren Gararson (Jorgensen), ao | game time: 102 min | year: 2022
More than a century ago we would have been mapping the largest parts of our planet. Only in the harshest parts was it not yet clear how the land masses were formed. Greenland was one of these regions. The Danes made a number of expeditions to prove that the farthest and coldest part of Greenland was also for them. Captain Ignar Mikkelsen led the last of these daring expeditions. He wrote a book about his icy adventure that’s still worthy of being made into a movie decades later.
Mikkelsen is sent to find one of his ancestors. Perhaps no more than an honorable burial, but it is also hoped that proof of the Danish claim to all of Greenland will be secured. The United States claims that the northern part of Greenland is not connected to the Danish rest and therefore does not have to be Danish. Mikkelsen will find something, but for the really conclusive proof he will have to make a months-long trek through the icy plains, into the snow-white interior. His crew isn’t eager to join them, with the exception of Ever Iverson, the rookie.
With this inexperienced technician over the Arctic Circle, the somewhat grumpy captain heads deep into the Arctic Circle. Along the way, the two encounter dangers and inconveniences on their sled dogs, until they finally find the documents Denmark sent them for, gaunt and badly battered. Writing about this would have been a huge spoiler for most movies, but not for against ice† After all, finding a directory is one thing and securing it is another. Getting back alive to the waiting ship and then back to Denmark is a formidable challenge, as is maintaining peace along the way.
An icy drama weaves these stories together without losing sight of the larger story. Finding some frozen documents is a far cry from the end of the movie, any observant viewer understands after taking a quick look at the watch. Stories of long loneliness and extreme isolation, whether in space, underground, or in ice, benefit from slow-motion narratives. There is indeed a missing narrative structure in which loneliness and despair creep into the two and the viewer. The journey of demolition across the North Pole often seems rushed.
When space is made for true desolate desperation, there seems to be enough excitement in the movie. There was still enough between the seasoned veteran and the excited young man to be able to speak in the silent moon surface. first half of again ice, where everything had to be done and everything was wished for, it turns out to be nothing more than an extended introduction. The part about Mikkelsen’s story and why it appeared in book form years later is yet to come. It is worth sitting well, preferably under a warm blanket.
against ice It can be seen on Netflix.
Evil tv scholar. Proud twitter aficionado. Travel ninja. Hipster-friendly zombie fanatic.