WELCOME TO OUR NEXT SCREENING
Hlynur Pálmason's
GODLAND
(Vanskabte land)
(Hlynur Pálmason | Denmark/Iceland/France/Sweden | 2022 | 143 min | M violence, nudity & content that may disturb)
Wednesday 8 April at 7.00pm (Early Start)
University of Otago’s Colquhoun Lecture Theatre**
Pálmason’s stunning historical epic charts course for the forbidding landscapes of remote southeastern Iceland, recalling the grandeur and madness of Herzog at his best.
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| | “A young priest travels from Denmark to Iceland in the late 19th century, where his mission is mocked by nature and by the corruptibility of his faith, in Hlynur Pálmason’s striking elemental epic…In Godland, man’s ambitions, even in relation to matters as seemingly pure as faith and spirituality, are revealed to be fragile, small, and helpless against the omnipotent forces of an unforgiving natural world. Those themes suggest a film of brooding portentousness, and this transfixing drama is certainly austere. |
| "But there’s also a marvellously odd vein of sneaky humour running through it, along with an unpredictability that keeps you glued… This is a highly original work that goes beyond its theological aspects to explore more universal questions of mankind and our evanescent place in the world… Pálmason’s control over this challenging material never falters throughout the film’s epic length, deftly dropping in moments of surprising lightness to alleviate the dark” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter. |
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FURTHER REVIEW
"There is such superb compositional sense in the still life tableau shots and the almost archaeological sense of time, creating something deeply mysterious and unbearably sad. There are echoes of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Roland Joffé’s The Mission, Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja – and even Howard Hawks’s Red River. Pálmason announces in the opening credits that the story was |
| inspired by the supposed discovery in Icelandof seven glass-plate photographs of people and places taken there at the end of the 19th century. While the claim is a deadpan fiction, his screen has an almost square 1.33:1 aspect ratio, perhaps in honour of the still photograph motif. This smaller-size, in such contradistinction to the movie’s CinemaScope ambition and spectacle, gives a density to the viewing experience". |
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A REMINDER: For Your Diary - The screening of Boat People will now take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 30 April. The University requires the Colquhoun lecture theatre for a Medical School terms test which has been scheduled on the Wednesday evening that week. We apologise for the disruption which this may cause for some members but it is a matter entirely outside our control. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
ABOUT THE DUNEDIN FILM SOCIETY
ADMISSION
Free to members.
TO JOIN
To purchase a Full/Half Season membership:- complete a membership form from our website and pay by online bank transfer (06-0942-0696013-00);
- or join at the door before any screening (cash only).
- you can also join at the OUSA office reception at the University of Otago (cash only).
Alternatively, you can purchase a Three-Film sampler ($25), which can be also be shared to bring two friends to one screening. The sampler does not expire and can be used over multiple years.
Membership includes generous discounts at Rialto Cinemas (from Monday to Friday) and the 2026 Dunedin Whānau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival; and FREE entry to the 2026 screenings of all other affiliated New Zealand Film Societies. Each member is entitled to ONE FREE GUEST ADMISSION to a single screening.
**To get to the Colquhoun Theatre: The Colquhoun is located on the first floor of the current Dunedin Public Hospital, above the chapel and squash courts. Stairs and lift access are from the main Hospital entrance on Great King Street.
WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK!... on this screening, or any other Dunedin Film Society showing, on dunedinfi...@gmail.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– |
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| | Dunedin Film Society
C/- 1 Crewe Street Maryhill Dunedin, Otago 9011New Zealand |
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