What a quixotic, brilliant movie “Woman at War” is! Benedikt Erlingsson, who directed and co-wrote this feature, is not familiar to me, but he has not only written a searching, pitch-perfect script, his direction delights throughout. The film opens up with what becomes a familiar scene, with fifty-year-old Halla, choir director, out in the starkly filmed Icelandic wilderness sabotaging power lines in order to bring the local aluminium industry to heel. She’s an eco warrior passionate about climate change! This theme is interesting enough, but the movie rattles along like a thriller, albeit marked by sprightly eccentricities, like a three piece playing the movie soundtrack inside each scene. Halla is played spectacularly well by Halldora Geirharosdottir, who also portrays Halla’s twin sister Asa, around which a couple of neat plot twists unfold. The backdrop of a government under the sway of foreign interests, bringing in American technology, including drones, to track the saboteur, adds contemporary relevance. Most recommended, both intelligently entertaining and thought provoking.
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