Of Horses and Men

Comedy Drama in Icelandic with English Subtitles. Directed / Scripted by Benedikt Erlingsson.

A country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Love and death become interlaced and with immense consequences. The fortunes of the people in the country through the horses' perception.

Of Horses and Men is a strikingly original film characterised by powerful visual language and an interwoven use of soundscape that gives the viewer a sense of, to quote Zola, the beast in man. The film depicts man’s eternal attempts to control nature and his pathetic failure in this endeavour – often with disastrous consequences.

In this quirky love story about the relationship between humans and horses, director Benedikt Erlingsson masterfully transmits meanings and ideas through an admirable use of both animal and human characters. The animal’s gaze is the central point of view through which we observe the tragicomic behaviour of man. This gives Of Horses and Men not only a peculiar lyricism, but also a darkly comic tone, which makes the film distinctively Icelandic.