Arctic - Review

Arctic

Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is currently one of my five favorite actors working today. He is always magnetic and interesting when immersed into the current film project is at hand. And while some of you may not knowing him by name you will recall he was in more noted films such as the villain “Le Chiffre” in the Daniel Craig first Bond film “Casino Royale" and from NBC’s short-lived younger adaptation of “Hannibal” aka Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

My experience of his work includes much broader and more nuanced efforts such as the brilliant “The Hunt”, “After the Wedding” and “Doctor Strange”. Either way I have always found him as compelling presence on the big screen. So, when his latest film was released “Arctic” this February I was pretty confident I was going to enjoy his new work like all the others.

PLOT: In “Arctic” we see a man, no name and no explanation why his propeller plane has crashed in parts unknown in the unforgiving cold of…………well the Arctic.  He is stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash.  He has decided to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift crash camp site until a rescue helicopter arrives. Unfortunately, is crashes as well killing the pilot and leaving the female co-pilot seriously wounded and in a coma. After several days of waiting for another rescue he finally concludes if either are to survive, he must embark on a deadly trek dragging her on a sled through the brutal wintry unknown with polar bears lurking about in hopes of making it out alive.

REVIEW: The Director Joe Penna will not confirm or deny if the events of this film are true or fictional. But 10 minutes into the story I realized I did not care at all. Every frame builds very slowly and meticulously into a real life and death authentic tension filled struggle just to live from minute to minute, sometimes even from second to second. The film encapsulates that primordial embodiment deep DNA seeded essence we all probably have in us to adapt through shear human will to survive at any cost with death seemingly knocking on the door.

For 1:37 minutes you watch this unnamed male character in his red coat stay in perpetual methodical motion of adapting, calibrating, strategizing, recalibrating and contemplating each of his steps just to live one day longer in the natural human hope someone will rescue him soon.

The brilliant beauty of this film is while Mikkelsen says very few words you can literally seeing him thinking and making decisions based both on his obvious past survival training and an innate ability to use his intelligence through improvisation (for the lack of a better expression) of “always making lemonade out of half a lemon and a frozen fish (metaphorically)”.

"Arctic" is simply riveting and even while you have some idea how it may turn out………….if you check your watch on the running time, you are never sure until the very last 10 seconds of the film what is going to happening to them. After days of being in the perpetual frozen cold you wonder are they going to die frozen together side by side just short of help on their way………………I’ll never tell, the film is too good to say.

And while some people expressed to me they loved the film leaving the theater some did groan at the finale. NOT ME…………….Every frame of this journey is simply compelling. Its is the thematic embodiment of being dogged in ones' human determination to be self-reliant on the fly while also being appropriately vulnerable and afraid in such a dire situation.

This is the first must see film of 2019. ENJOY this incredibly "brrrrrr" bone chilling incredible “Arctic” trek.

3.75 Stars