A Remarkable Tale of Survival, Brotherhood, and Resilience

Peter Flinth’s film, Against the Ice (2022), is a gripping survival drama inspired by the 1909 Denmark Expedition to Greenland. The movie is based on two memoirs written by Ejnar Mikkelsen, who survived an expedition that tested the limits of both the body and spirit. Set in one of the most inhospitable places, it details how friendship can help one endure anything.

The film stars Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ejnar Mikkelsen, an accomplished explorer of the Arctic, and Joe Cole from Peaky Blinders as the naive but gifted mechanic Iver Iversen. Together, they portray two men who embark on a quest to retrieve vital records. However, the documents could potentially validate Denmark’s claim over Greenland. What starts as a go-getting adventure morphs into a grueling fight against nature’s wrath with the freezing cold weather, an alarming scarcity of resources, and the profound impact of psychological loneliness.

Slow-burning and multifaceted in nature, Against the Ice is deeply evocative of the wild, blending stunning cinematography with gripping performances and a powerful narrative. The film’s plot brings to light the astonishing and sometimes savage charm of the Arctic region.

Plot Overview

This story takes place in the year 1909 which is considered to be the time of the age of exploration where polar expeditions had considerable risk and issues of national pride were at stake. Ejnar Mikkelsen is a mid aged Danish explorer who is considered to be an expert, and is on an expedition meant to challenge an American claim that Greenland is actually made up of two islands. If the claim is unchallenged, Denmark risks losing part of the territory.

As most of the crew members find the task incredibly dangerous, the only person who volunteers for the expedition is an inexperienced young man named Iver Iversen who is a mechanic by trade, has no experience in arctic adventures and is essentially a nobody. The two of them set off to try and locate the remnants of an older expedition that was lost and was under the control of an ice cap that held it hostage.

After months of challenging situations together with a lack of food and on the verge of death to some degree and fashioned with another grueling bear attack, together the two men retrieve the papers that claim Greenland is a land and not two islands. Unfortuanatrly, when Mikkleson and Ivens came back to them the base camp, their ship the Alabama was gone forcing them to fend for themselves in the Arctic.

With time, the two men’s reality morphs into an unending nightmare of starvation, frostbite, extreme cold, drowning, and intense psychological suffering. There is no other way to reason the hallucinations and paranoia thated consume them during the relentless arctic winter. While their conditions deteriorate, they lean on each other for support and form an unforgettable bond as they try to survive.

As their hope dwindles, the rescuers appear out of thin air, leaving them with an unexpected sweet touch to their struggles. Their journey proves the Islands unity, allowing Denmark to claim territory, but not without personal expense and cost.

Overarching Characters and Cast

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ejnar Mikkelsen: An Arctic explorer on the quest to prove Greenland’s unity and neglecting his own health and sanity towards obsessive compulsive territory claim for Denmark. His infatuation with securing the claim and proving the unity makes him determined beyond imagination.

Joe Cole as Iver Iversen: Initially a young unexperienced naiveté mechanic setting out on an arctic exploration voyage. He incredibly adapts to the harsh conditions and proves to be a great companion throughout the expedition.

Charles Dance as Neergaard – A Danish bureaucrat who does not believe that Mikkelsen’s mission is important, adding to the list of obstacles that every explorer had to deal with in those times.

Heida Reed as Naja – A figure in Mikkelsen’s dreams which represents femininity, tenderness, nostalgia, and everything that he cherished from his past.

Against the Ice features a small number of characters, so the acting from Coster-Waldau and Cole is very important. Their strong and nuanced interactions are what makes the story work emotionally.

Legacy and Sacrifice

The film asks whether the national pride of Denmark’s claim to Greenland is worth the physical and emotional toll that explorers endured, which seems to today be remembered as an afterthought. Just like Denmark, the expedition’s success came at a great personal cost.

Survival and Adventure Elements

Extremely Polar – The film provides a startling depiction of the brutal realities of fenestration, starvation, and harsh temperatures that come with surviving the Arctic.

Wildlife Peril – A shocking example accentuates the peril constantly provided by wildlife in the Arctic.

Delusional Mental And Hallucinatory Strain – Time has a dreadful way of blurring reality and delusion which adds an eerie element to the dire survival story.

Innovation – In such an unforgiving environment, the film paints survival as a battle of utmost inventiveness as shown by resorting to eating sled dogs and rationing scant supplies.

Visual and Technical Craftsmanship

Cinematography and Atmosphere

The astonishing schlieren of Greenland’s endless frozen surface is captured in detail. The emptiness accentuated the bleached white landscape gives feeling of valor and dauntingness at the same time, isolating the characters and making them helpless.

Sound Design and Score

A perfect juxtaposition allows the film’s composition to be defined by screeching2626g gusts, dazzling ice, and surrounding emptitness. The music during intense moments is understated yet stunning, enhancing emotion and or tension.

Authenticity & Realism

The film’s Explosion depicts the struggle for a motorcycle as hair-raising while also maintaining eye-catching details such as accurate clothing from the particular time period and the realistic reproduction of survival tactics.

Critical Reception and Impact

Positive Aspects:

Coster-waldau’s Mastery – Critique from the audience applauded his portrayal of Mikkelsen as emotional, and claimed that he knew how to combine being a fierce man with a hopeless man.

Exquisite Imagery – Coster waldau’s careful depiction of the breathtakingly chilly Arctic region transports the audience deep into the unwelcoming region.

Suspenseful And Touching Narration – The film contains so much tension and deep emotions that it is much more than just a documentary of struggle.

Criticism:

Unhurried Tempo – Certain audience members regarded the film’s pacing as statuesque and especially in the middle part, too lethargic.

Few Outside Complications – The central conflict, as in many other survival movies, is psychological which does not suit everyone and is void of action.

Even with its slow-burn approach, Against the Ice was showered with the most praise for it’s realistic portrayals fused with emotional gravity and gripping acting.

Final Thoughts

Against the Ice is a wonderfully wrought documentary chronicling the struggles of survival as well as a refreshing thought on the tenacity of the human spirit seldom witnessed. It is not as heavily packed with heart-racing segments as a typical survival thriller, but the emotion and history infused into the film renders it astonishing.

Like those who enjoyed The Revenant (2015), Everest (2015), and Arctic (2018), Against the Ice offers an equally captivating and chilling experience. It’s not only the struggle against nature, sweet and powerful nature, but against the withering of hope, identity, and the sheer will to survive.