Of all the different types of movies available, the comedy genre has got to be the most subjective. There are people out there in the world who really think Two And A Half Men is the funniest thing ever, while others may have found nothing humorous since Oscar Wilde died. Then there’s the fact that different countries obviously have a different sense of humour, which is most likely the reason why it’s almost a solid forty minutes before it dawns on you that Of Horses And Men is supposed to be a comedy. Once that shoe drops though, it quickly becomes one of the weirdest dark comedies you’ll ever see.
Set in a small and isolated Icelandic village, Of Horses And Men tells a series of vaguely interlocked short stories involving the community and their interactions with their horses. Some people love their horses (a little TOO much), others abuse them needlessly, some use them as a symbol of power, and others use them as a means of seduction.
As with any movie that involves a series of vignettes rather than one overarching plot, some of the stories are more interesting and involving than others, while some are far more obviously funny than others. One involving a man left abandoned to the elements and using a dead horse for shelter would be one of the less funny entries, for example, while the plot involving a man blinded by barbed wire is actually quite hilarious, albeit in a profoundly dark way.
It would appear that the folk from Iceland have a very twisted sense of humour, one that will definitely not be to everyone’s tastes. At times the tone of the movie can be so confusing that you’re never altogether sure if you should be laughing at what you’re looking at, but it’s during these absurdly dark moments that you’ll probably find yourself laughing the most.
With strong performances and the natural stoic beauty of Iceland helping to tie the whole bundle together, Of Horses And Men is undoubtedly one of the oddest movies you’ll see in 2014. Whether you take that as a recommendation or not is entirely based on what you happen to find funny.
