[FILM REVIEW] ELLOS EATNU – LA ELVA LEVE (LET THE RIVER FLOW) Review 2023)

Summary: Ester hides her identity to avoid being exposed to racism. When Ester suddenly finds herself in the middle of demonstrations against a big dam development in Alta, a personal journey out of the shame she has carried so long begins.

Year: 2023

Cinema Release Dates:  TBA (Australia), TBA (Thailand), TBA (UK), TBA (USA)

VOD Release Dates: TBA

Country: Norway, Finland

Director: Ole Giaever

Screenwriter: Ole Giaver

Cast: Ivar Beddari (Goran), Gard Emil (Mihkkal), Hanne Mathisen Haga (Siv Anita), Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen (Ester Isaksen), Sofia Jannock (Risten Labba), Anitta Suikkari (Asta), Marie Kvernmo Valkeapaa (Maret)

Running Time: 118 mins

Classification: TBC (Australia), TBC (Thailand), TBC (UK), TBC (USA)

LET THE RIVER FLOW REVIEWS

Alex First’s Let The River Flow Review

Unfortunately, it is an age-old story. Original inhabitants displaced from their land.

And so it is with the dramatic confrontation at the heart of Let the River Flow.

In this case, it is the native Sami people whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by a dam approved by the Norwegian government.

Its construction will cut off a vital income source, namely the harvesting of salmon.

It is the summer of 1979 and the story focuses on 23-year-old Ester Isaksen (Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen), who lost her father to suicide when she was only young.

Her mother has moved on and remarried a teacher, and the pair has had another child, a son.

Ester has herself secured a teaching job in Alta in Northern Norway, but like many Sami at the time she is ashamed of her heritage and conceals her ethnicity.

It takes Ester’s cousin, Mihkkal (Gard Elvenes), to see her change her tune.

Mihkkal is the only one who Ester knows in Alta and he picks her up to drive her to her new lodgings in Alta.

But first he detours to a protest camp by the Alta River, where he and likeminded individuals are demonstrating against the dam.

Although apprehensive at first, as the story unfolds Ester becomes emboldened, causing friction between her, her mother and her stepfather.

Still, the fight for survival by the Sami continues.

Written and directed by Ole Giæver, Let the River Flow is a slow moving but compelling story.

At the outset, Ester and Mihkkal are decidedly different people. He is a show pony and she is demure.

When Ester becomes involved in the campaign, Mihkkal is not convinced about her motivation.

Before this is over though, their respective characterisations flip.

There is a great deal of heartbreak and sorrow involved in the narrative.

I appreciated Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen’s largely low-key performance.

(As a matter of fact, in her personal life the actress is protesting against wind turbines build on land traditionally used by indigenous Sami reindeer herders.)

The run ins that Ester has with her mother help establish the David and Goliath struggle that ensues.

Another to capture my attention is Ester’s grandmother, to whom Ester turns repeatedly.

It may be the tradition of picking cloudberries or ensuring a Sami “uniform” fits, Ester can always count on the family matriarch.

Let the River Flow is part of the Scandinavian Film Festival. To find out more, go to https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com

Other Let The River Flow Reviews:

Nil

Trailer: