Writer/director Sara Margrethe Oskal (an academic, writer, screenwriter, actress, poet, part-time reindeer herder, and more) makes her feature début with this seemingly simple romantic drama set against some of the iciest and most freezing locations in the movies.
Filmed in Kautokeino, Finnmark, in the dead of winter (and in Norwegian and Sámi), this shows the region as very modern despite the snow and isolation, with characters spending the day herding in forbidding landscapes and then returning home to fiddle with their phones over dinner. It also demonstrates that, despite the cold, the place is alive with warmth and love.
Having spent many years living and studying in Oslo, Lena (Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup) returns to her hometown of Sápmi with her young son to pursue an ambitious art project. Hoping to explore modern themes of gender and feminist ideals among the Sámi people, especially women who work as herders, she must also make peace with her mother and many locals who don’t trust her, especially as she hasn’t been home since her father’s death.
Trying hard to connect with the community, and even singing ‘joik’ (a traditional and personal Sámi song) at a pub, she meets with a lot of opposition, but then she meets amiable herder Máhtte (Nils Ailu Kemi), and everything changes. And Gaup and Kemi’s early scenes together are quite delightful, as both are sweetly unable to stop smiling in each other’s presence.
Naturally, Lena and Máhtte’s blossoming relationship is beset with problems, particularly as his mother thinks Lena is an outsider (and something of a pretentious one at that), and she eventually considers running back to Oslo. Can they deal with the past and move on to a happy future, and can the townsfolk forgive, forget and grow?
Although you could probably guess where Oskal’s film (a.k.a. Eallougierdu) winds up, it’s so beautifully played and full of tenderness that it hardly matters.
And yes, even the grumpy old reindeer are charming.
The Tundra Within Me is screening as part of the SAXO Scandinavian Film Festival 2024
