Reviews

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  ★★★★ review by Johannes on Letterboxd

  Berlinale 2014 - Generation

  Ömheten traces the life of several young people in the mining town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It's a honest yet amibigous look on what living in such a remote spot means for human life. But it's not only a story of people, the environment, the nature is an equal part of the film. It's an ecological filmmaking in a way, trying to catch the spirit of this special and unique location and how things between humans and their surroundings are closely and irrevocably related. The camerawork of Ömheten is stunning, always aiming to frame the vividness of each scene and becoming more and more streaming, floating between nature and human civilization. Almost Tarkowski-like.

  The merciless exploitation of ressources is never directly judged, the movie is too smart to do so. Questions of adolescence, love, family are treated in a sensitive way rather focusing on the shades of life in between then on the big issues. A really strong picture by director Sofia Norlin and one of the highlights of Berlinale Generation in 2014.

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  ★★★½ review by Fredrik Fyhr on Letterboxd

  This film is really all cinematography. In every other aspect it's deeply flawed, even amateurish at times.

  But if you get into it, there's gold to find. I especially liked the last act of the film, where the people finally stop talking and the gorgeous images take over

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