AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #2 ‘Gunda’

2. “Gunda” –  Have you ever lived on a farm?  Have you ever spent a few hours on one?  Well, director Viktor Kosakovskiy – inspired by his childhood pet piglet – places his camera on a small Norwegian homestead and follows the stories of a mama pig named Gunda, her piglets, nearby cows, and a one-legged chicken in a 93-minute documentary sans dialogue.  Shot in dreamy black and white, Kosakovskiy frames his friendly subjects at exceptionally close range and watches them stroll through their days.  While some carefree moments trigger warm smiles and wonder, others crystalize – for us – their everyday struggles, including Gunda’s never-ending motherhood-grind.  Kosakovskiy and cinematographer Egil Haskjold Larsen bequeath a rich, transparent embrace of nature.  That’s not exactly right because our living, breathing thespians reside on a farm.

⭐⭐⭐⭐  out of  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Image credits: NEON; Trailer credits: Movieclips Indie

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