Valley of Shadows

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Movie
German title Valley of Shadows
Original title Skyggenes dal
Country of production Norway
original language Norwegian
Publishing year 2017
length 91 minutes
Rod
Director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
script Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
Clement Tuffreau
production Alan R. Milligan
music Zbigniew Preisner
camera Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen
cut Mariusz Kus
occupation

Valley of Shadows (in the Norwegian original Skyggenes dal , German about: Schattental) is a Norwegian film drama from 2017. It is the first feature film by the director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen , who also wrote the screenplay.

action

Six-year-old Aslak grows up with his single mother Astrid in a village in Norway. An older brother, apparently a drug addict, has a room in the family's house, which he left some time ago with an unknown destination. An animal, presumably a wolf, kills the villagers' sheep. Aslak's older playmate, Lasse, gives him the idea that a werewolf must be responsible for the deeds and locates him in the nearby forest. When Aslak's dog Rapp disappears into the forest, the boy secretly goes on a search. Full of fear, he wanders through the forest for several days without encountering any real dangers; even a mysterious hermit turns out to be friendly. Eventually he is found by a search party. In the final scene, he again penetrates a few meters into the forest to collect poison bait laid out by the farmers.

History of origin

According to director Gulbrandsen, the core idea behind Valley of Shadows was to portray the forest as an entity . The director also said that he was fascinated by depicting a child's point of view. The film was not shot digitally, but on 35mm film . The shooting took place in southwest Norway. They dragged on over a long period of time because they had to wait again and again for suitable weather conditions.

Premiere of Valley of Shadows was on September 8, 2017 the Toronto International Film Festival . The film was released in Norway on October 20, 2017. In 2017, the film was shown at the São Paulo International Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival. In 2018 it ran at the Seattle International Film Festival and the German Fantasy Film Festival, among others .

The cameraman Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen is the director's brother. John Olav Nilsen , who plays the hermit, is the singer of the Norwegian rock band John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen , which has been awarded the Spellemann Prize .

reception

Valley of Shadows received mostly positive reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes review database aggregates 11 reviews to a rating of 82%.

The industry journal Variety noted "painfully beautiful images (which) brought back memories of forgotten legends of Norse mythology". The magazine pointed out that the director's main focus would be to show how external influences increased the fear experienced by the little boy more and more. The optical design of the film, reminiscent of paintings by Gustave Doré and Lars Hertervig , is an integral cause of the film's effect on the viewer; the orchestral score supports this effect. The Hollywood Reporter saw Valley of Shadows as a "dark mood film" bordering on art film than a horror film. Gulbrandsen's ability to create gloomy premonitions in the audience, in combination with the "majestic" soundtrack, allows the script to overlook minor weaknesses. The magazine praised the camera work; the expanse of the nature depicted is "overwhelming". The British film magazine Screen International saw the fairy tale Peter and the Wolf as the leitmotif of the film. Valley of Shadows is a "Gothic fairy tale (with) a gripping look and a remarkable background music".

The film was nominated for awards at five film festivals, but did not win any.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ScreenAnarchy.com: Valley of Shadows Director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen on the Blurring of Fantasy and Reality, Time and Space. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Variety.com: Rome Film Review: 'Valley of Shadows'. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
  3. ↑ RottenTomatoes.com: Valley of Shadows. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
  4. ↑ HollywoodReporter.com: Valley of Shadows. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
  5. ↑ 'Valley Of Shadows': Toronto Review. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .
  6. ↑ IMDb.com : Skyggenes dal (2017): Awards. Retrieved September 16, 2018 .