"Ivalu" is a new live action short film from Denmark or Greenland if we are more precise and this is also in the Greenlandic language, even if there is not a great deal of talking in here. It runs for a quarter of an hour, slightly over and I got to watch this one on the occasion of a showing of the animated and live action short film that got nominated for the 2023 edition of the Academy Awards. This is one of them. When I say that it is a new movie, this could not be any more fitting because the film is indeed a 2023 release and with this it is surely a bit of an exception compared to the other nominees that were all screened in 2022 already. This may also explain why this one here, according to imdb, has almost no awards attention away from the Oscars at this point. Or maybe the reason is also that it is simply not particularly good. I would say it is my least favorite from the nominees in this category and it is not even a small gap. I was not enthusiastic over any of these, but this is the only one I would not recommend watching and I believe that it also has only a theoretical chance to take home the Oscar next weekend. The writer and director is Anders Walter and if there is any argument that it could win the Oscar, then maybe it is that Denmark always does well in this category and that Walter is 1 for 1 at the Oscars as he won indeed when he was nominated the first time. Now it is the second time. 2 for 2 seems very unlikely though.
About the cast, there is also not too much to say. The only grown-up actor has worked on other projects in the past and the kids are pretty new to the industry. It is a small cast, so in theory it could work as a stage play too, but as a great deal about the film is about nature and atmosphere related to climate and weather, it would be very difficult to put into effect on a theater stage. Anders' co-director Jørgensen has worked on other projects too, like the pretty famous "Borgen", but he was also on "The Fight for Greenland", just like the lead actress here. Maybe this is where their paths crossed. Perhaps a nature documentary instead of this film could have been the better choice. The entire project is based on a graphic novel by Morten Dür, not the first time one of his works got turned into a movie. I hope the 2022 adaptation "Robotbror" turned out better than this one here. Don't be fooled by the Oscar nomination. The film loses itself in landscape imagery, shocking inclusions of one character sexually abusing a minor and pretentious pseudo-important metaphors linked to ravens without ever including a story and plot that could have turned these aspects into something watchable. The outcome is a disappointment. I suggest you skip the watch.
About the cast, there is also not too much to say. The only grown-up actor has worked on other projects in the past and the kids are pretty new to the industry. It is a small cast, so in theory it could work as a stage play too, but as a great deal about the film is about nature and atmosphere related to climate and weather, it would be very difficult to put into effect on a theater stage. Anders' co-director Jørgensen has worked on other projects too, like the pretty famous "Borgen", but he was also on "The Fight for Greenland", just like the lead actress here. Maybe this is where their paths crossed. Perhaps a nature documentary instead of this film could have been the better choice. The entire project is based on a graphic novel by Morten Dür, not the first time one of his works got turned into a movie. I hope the 2022 adaptation "Robotbror" turned out better than this one here. Don't be fooled by the Oscar nomination. The film loses itself in landscape imagery, shocking inclusions of one character sexually abusing a minor and pretentious pseudo-important metaphors linked to ravens without ever including a story and plot that could have turned these aspects into something watchable. The outcome is a disappointment. I suggest you skip the watch.