Samuel Van Grinsven’s “Went Up the Hill” is a ghost story and psychological drama that meditates on grief.
It really works finest because the latter and hardly in any respect as the previous.
In a beautiful, distant location, stuffed with mountains and huge, empty areas (the gorgeous setting is in New Zealand), a funeral is going down. We meet the deceased’s spouse, Jill (Vicky Krieps) and Jack (Dacre Montgomery), the son who was left behind and reveals up unexpectedly.
After the service, Jack and Jill find out how a lot they’ve in widespread, their lives outlined by the one who died. Their relationship turns into emotionally and bodily intimate, although with a weird step past that – every time they sleep, the soul of the departed possesses them and so they’re capable of have conversations with the useless.
Van Grinsven provides us a brooding, quiet begin that by no means lets up, giving us the sort of pin-drop chamber piece that feels just like the works of Ingmar Bergman. But, Bergman pulled us in with character insights, surprising moments of bodily/verbal violence and human connections, along with the dream-like ambiance.
Right here, the setting is essentially the most compelling element.
One other doubtless inspiration is Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” (1940), however minus Hitchcock’s visible wit and verisimilitude as a movie artist. To place it one other means – right here is one other film about grieving and struggling to reconcile who you might be, your id, whereas attempting to understand somebody who appears simply as current after loss of life.
As a meditation on grief, “Went Up a Hill” is honest however not insightful or novel. Taken as a supernatural drama, it’s sluggish and apparent.
The beautiful cinematography is by Tyson Perkins, who captures otherworldly vistas and creates hanging, stunning compositions. There’s a painterly precision to the filmmaking. The visible magnificence is the movie’s best asset, significantly throughout all the outside pictures.
Alternatively, Hanan Tonwnsend’s ambient soundtrack is the sort of rating that appears like both a loss of life wail or whale songs. Far simpler is the sound design, with crackling ice underneath the floor sounds of the chilly wilderness.
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“Went Up the Hill” is meant as an exploration of what loss of life does to the residing and those that really feel left behind when the departed leaves us with agonizing, unresolved questions.
That is principally a two-hander, with two wonderful performances carrying this morose, slow-building drama. The result’s attention-grabbing to consider afterwards, but it surely by no means pulled me in. It’s the sort of movie the place I’d favor to listen to why the director made it greater than sitting via it once more.
Van Grinsven’s movie leaves such a frosty impression, I couldn’t even join with its very-belated makes an attempt at uplift. The ending works higher as a metaphor than a correct climax, although the movie as a complete capabilities the identical means.
For a narrative with the tenacity to painting the invisible presence of ghosts and their capacity to own the residing, what I’ll bear in mind most are scenes of psychological anguish and surviving a frozen lake over the rest.
There may be poetry within the visuals and an admirable try and discover the ache left behind by somebody who’s one way or the other extra current in loss of life. I love how the movie is a chamber piece, however regardless of these robust qualities, I used to be all too conscious of the methodical strategy, and by no means misplaced myself within the movie or felt something past delicate fascination whereas watching it.
The movie’s elegant look and presentation are spectacular, although they’re finally stronger than the movie’s targets of dealing with mortality by accepting who we’re.
Truly, if that is what catharsis appears like, the film is sufficient to sway anybody from ever attending a funeral once more.
Two Stars