«Woman at war»: an ecological and feminist fable

Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) - Virginia Eufemi

On July 10, the NIFFF presented the Swiss premiere of the film, with the lead actress in attendance, Woman at War, a film by Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson that depicts a contemporary human adventure.

The Mountain Woman is an Icelandic environmental activist wanted by the authorities, whose acts of sabotage have garnered international attention. Her target? The country’s heavy industry. Her actions? Nonviolent—they mainly consist of cutting off power to a multinational corporation and distributing activist pamphlets. Behind the Mountain Woman (and her Nelson Mandela mask) lies Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir), a single choir director in her late forties. Fully immersed in her fight to protect the environment for future generations, she will have to make a choice when her four-year-old adoption application is finally approved and a little girl, Nika, is waiting for her in Ukraine.

From a formal standpoint, Woman at War is a high-quality film that showcases its country of origin: Iceland’s magnificent landscapes provide the perfect natural backdrop for an environmental story. Nature is a fundamental element of the film; the viewer feels the protagonist’s deep connection to the earth; she often lies down with her face resting on the grass and moss to breathe in the natural scents that soothe her. Woman at War is a very regional, local film that addresses global issues, such as global warming.

Music is another character in its own right. Three jazz musicians and three Ukrainian singers make up the band «in Halla’s head,» which accompanies her through life and expresses her moods. At times a military march, at others a melancholic song, the protagonist’s inner music plays a playful and clever role in the narrative. Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir embodies her role perfectly; above all, she portrays a strong and courageous woman faced with the choice between motherhood and the environmentalist struggle.

During the post-screening discussion, the actress stated that the script had not been written with a gendered perspective and that it reflected the activism of the director, who is also a close friend of Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir. But it’s hard not to notice that Halla is, above all, a woman who works fearlessly for her country and for the future of the Earth. So there’s also a «feminist» dimension that emerges from this film, which further proves to us that «gutta cavat lapidem», that drop by drop can wear away stone, and that no commitment is too small.

In this sense, two heroines seem to truly stand out: Halla and Nika. Halla risks her life, her freedom, and her future motherhood for the environmental cause, and Nika is a little girl who has overcome the horrors of war and the loss of her family—and who, at just five years old, is already a young woman of tremendous strength. Woman at War tackles with humor the very Icelandic theme of consanguinity, as well as the treatment of migrants, through the character of Juan Camillo Roman Estrada, who is constantly arrested in place of the Woman of the Mountains simply because he always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This feature film delicately explores the consequences of our choices and actions through the complex and endearing character of Halla, a woman fighting for the future of the Earth.

An interview with lead actress Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir will appear in our next print issue, in August, as part of our special feature on the festival.

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Write to the author: virginia.eufemi@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © NIFFF