Nils Gaup returns to the territory that gave him a handful of awards and nominations twenty years prior with Ofelas. This time, we find ourselves in the mid 19th century in the midst of a conflict between obviously nature-loving Lapps and exploitive Norwegians in a dispute that Gaup looks to set up as something like a reversed western. Unfortunately, the conflict is not particularly well motivated from neither party‘s point of view, and the film‘s premise seems forced and plotted from the get go. The background for the rebellion is argued by most historians as being diversed, but in this film, there is a recurring and not too subtle amplification of the two most visible elements: the church and the alcohol. What should have been a potent film, is only so in segments. Most of the blame must go to Gaup‘s at times lacklustre craftmanship (the sets and camera angles does little to enhance the spatial feel) and one-note acting (Sundquist is completely ill-placed and Persbrandt‘s acting is mostly showing off). Kautokeino-oppgj?ret doesn‘t come alive until the very end, but by then there has been too many large words and pompous explanations. Compared to Ofelas, this film doesn‘t give a very nuanced portrait of the life of the Lapps. Only the flocks of reindeer seem to be up for the task Gaup had in mind
