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Godland

An Icelandic film that stares down the lens
Palace Films
by
ABR Arts 15 August 2023

Godland

An Icelandic film that stares down the lens
Palace Films
by
ABR Arts 15 August 2023
Elliott Crosset Hove as Lucas.
Elliott Crosset Hove as Lucas.

In three films by Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason, there is a moment of rupture in which the narrative is held up and we see instead a montage of various characters standing still and looking directly at the camera – an example of what has been called a planimetric shot. This particular type of shot, in which the camera is positioned directly perpendicular to its subject, appears to flatten characters against backgrounds on screen, in much the same way that a portrait photograph might. Although this arrangement may be familiar to us from the studied geometrical compositions of Wes Anderson, the planimetric shot in the hands of other filmmakers can serve to jolt us out of the world of the film, an abrupt reminder that we are watching something that has been recorded by a camera.