The County

THE COUNTY / HÉRAÐIÐ - a film by Grímur Hákonarson

SYNOPSIS

Set in a small Icelandic farming community, The County tells the story of Inga, a middle- aged dairy farmer who rebels against the all powerful local Cooperative. Inga tries to get other farmers to join her in rising up against the Co-op’s corruption, but encounters great resistance, forcing her to confront the community’s dependence and loyalty to this single, dominant enterprise. Inga must use her resourcefulness and cunning to break free of the Co-op’s grasp and finally live life on her own terms.

PRESS QUOTES

(An) audience-pleasing, humanist drama… Full of feisty female energy and imagery, and sprinkled with rousing “you go girl!” comic moments.

Variety

Egilsdóttir is fantastic in the lead role thanks to a relatable mixture of futility working a tireless job and ferocity… The County shows that it only takes one person to beat the drum for change to occur.

The Film Stage

A remarkable performance (from Egilsdóttir) as the indomitable farmer in this engrossing drama. Hákonarson once again emerges as an assured and confident voice and one of the country’s best filmmakers.

Fimuforia

The combination of unforgiving landscapes and an unyielding eco-warrior heroine made Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman At War an irresistible international hit. The County seems well placed to match that success… Arndis Hronn Egilsdottir is centre stage throughout, giving a commanding performance… (she) makes Inga a very sympathetic figure, playing her with the bone weary resolve of someone who recognises that she has nothing left to lose… we hope for her triumph whilst fearing the price that she might pay. Hákonarson keeps it focused and involving working against the grain of complete Capra-style triumphalism to achieve a more realistic but equally satisfying conclusion.

Screen Daily