Nominated for the Orizzonte Prize at the esteemed Venice Film Festival, 'Under The Tree' gets a standing ovation at it's Venice Film Festival Premiere in Sala Darsena. This is the 3rd feature from one of the rising european film directors, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, after ‘Paris of the North’ (nominated for the Roger Ebert Award at the Chicago Film Festival in 2014), and ‘Either Way’ (was remade as a North American production starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch).
The movie started with a couple, Agnes (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir) and Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson), went to bed back to back on each other. Later on Agnes caught her husband Atli watching a sex tape of himself with his old girlfriend, almost touching himself. Agnes kicked him out, while hugging their daughter, instantly lock him out from access to their daughter, access to their house, even access to go to the residential meeting, because 'we're not together anymore'.
We then see Atli's father Baldwin (Sigurður Sigurjónsson) having a conversation with the neighbour Konrad (Þorsteinn Bachmann). Short and bold, Konrad once again remind Baldwin about trimming the tree in their backyard a little bit, because it cast a shadow in their backyard. Knowing exactly that the requests came from Konrad's new young wife Eybjorg (Selma Björnsdóttir), Inga told her husband, 'no one is touching that tree'.
Atli's going to ride with a car, that we learn later on that it is his brother's car. Atli's reaching out to see his daughter, but there was no access to her. From one of the school teacher, he learned that Agnes even prep for a divorce. Atli, believes he has a right to be with his daughter for a couple hours, took his daughter with him, to have a short camping in front of IKEA.
At home, in the terrace, Inga started to show her bitterness and bold judgement to Eybjorg, who just got back from daily jogs with her dog. Inga threw a plastic full of dog feces to her face, stating that nothing is wrong with the tree but she has been tired cleaning the dog feces in her backyard. Eybjorg told this to Konrad, while the extreme harsh attitude of Inga were not a new thing to the couple, it was new for the audiences. They discussed about the reasoning of Inga's behaviour should have something to do with the family's past, with Atli's brother, his disappearing, or his suicide.
Atli managed to keep trying to get to Agnes and their daughter but the efforts seems to no succeed. Agnes finally let him back inside the house just to give his stuff, while their daughter's not in the house. When Baldwin visited, Agnes stated that their marriage has a long history of resentment to each other, that they have been not happy for a very long time.
In the meantime, Baldwin still suggesting Inga to always ask first before making any assumptions, but then Inga accusing Eybjorg for the sudden disappearance of her cat. Things went further down from then on. The cat still disappear, the tires that gets slashed, a visual of electric chainsaw, a big chunk of poisoned meat for the dog, even baldwin no longer enjoy his choir rehearsal.
Decided to live in a tent in the backyard as a moral support for his parents, Atli begin to see that there is no other way to escape the divorce. In an email Agnes sent to him it was clear that they are now discussing what is best for their daughter, even though they don't love each other anymore.
For such intense and fast-deep escalating emotions of the characters, even in the night scene you can feel that something is about to happen, the camera movements seemed to be settle. Framing is beautiful, smooth movements, almost never handheld which show that this is a matter of something rather deep than just plain disturbing. The tone color is cool, in combination of a realistic setting of the artistic department, stating that this drama could just happen anywhere in the world. Editing is nothing but also a craft work of palcing the contrast between the calm visual and the uncontrollable escalating emotions. The production design intendedly to give you such impression, that nothing is just okay here, but yeah, maybe everything is actually just fine.
Audiences were laughing on Inga's way of describing, accusing, smacking down her neighbour in any chance she gets. The words were very harsh it feels real, in non-drama nor opera means. We understand her point and wondering what is the real roots of her unbelievable attitude.
No one is the same person anymore, by the end of the movie. Probably, nor Inga herself, especially after the 3 seconds shot by the end of the movie that was expected by me to be honest, but the way it presented was always surprising.
If we are capable of anything simple in concept but also can be simple in realization, I would vote for a 'mindfull of others' mind set. That a tree can cast a shadow, and when it bothers someone else you can always talk and find the solution together. Because as much as we think we can, we actually can't avoid living in a neighbourhood. In this overpopulated earth, we may want to start trying to understand each other better. At least, take a deep breath and wait a little bit more before anything else. Just take a deep breath.
*Under The Tree will have it's last screening on Sunday, Sept 3rd 2017 in Venice Film Festival. It will also be screen in Toronto International Film Festival as a Special Screening section. By the time you finished reading this post this week, I am sure they will have more screenings in Europe and America.
Production companies: Netop Films, Profile Pictures, Madants, One Two Films
International sales: New Europe Film Sales, jan@neweuropefilmsales.com
Producers: Grímar Jónsson, Sindri Páll Kjartansson, Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson, Caroline Schlüter Bingestam, Ditte Milsted, Jacob Jarek, Klaudia Smieja, Beata Rzezniczek, Jamila Wenske, Sol Bondy
Screenplay: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, Huldar Breiðfjörð
Cinematographer: Monika Lenczewska
Editor: Kristján Loðmfjörð
Production designer: Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson
Composer: Daníel Bjarnason
Cast: Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Selma Björnsdóttir, Dóra Jóhannsdóttir, Sigríður Sigurpálsdóttir Scheving
Picture from: http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2017/program-cinema-2017/hafsteinn-gunnar-sigurðsson-undir-trénu-under-tree