The Love That Remains

Directed by Hlynur Pálmason, The Love That Remains details the comings and goings of a rural Icelandic family. Filmmaker Pálmason, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a typically self-indulgent endeavor that does, for a little while, manage to sustain the viewer’s attention and interest, as the picture boasts strikingly-shot visuals and a series of authentic, lived-in performances that initially compensate for the decidedly less-than-forceful narrative. It’s equally clear, though, that Pálmason’s aggressive emphasis on said family’s mundane activities (eg fishing, meetings, frolicking, etc) slowly-but-surely transforms The Love That Remains into a progressively interminable experience, and while Pálmason finally does include actual instances of drama and substance within the picture’s second half (eg the growing tension between the two estranged parents), the anticlimactic final stretch, coupled with Pálmason’s grating reliance on nonsensical dream sequences, ultimately ensures that the whole thing peters out to a rather palpable degree – which is a shame, certainly, given Pálmason’s obvious talent behind the camera.

*1/2 out of ****