遥远的北方

Again too long for short comments.

Somehow shocked... The scenery is really stunning in the far north, and though there's few conversation, other sounds(like the wuthering wind, the dog bark, the cracking ice and even the faint whistle from the aurora, I think) help a lot in building the environment. That will compose my impression of the polar regions hahahaha!

An important question, I wonder how much of truth it holds, will humanity really turn out like this in the most desolate situation?

As long as the answer is yes, the character of Saiva can really touch me (actually she already does). She is always lonely but desperate for love, which is magnified in the film especially by the desolation of the polar region. But since young she was expelled and constantly deprived of love (by Saman, by invaders... ), she tried to seclude herself from the human world's possible hurts, and lived with daughter as the only consolance... and maybe some sort of emotional reliance. Look, in the flashback scene she was so timid but also sweet with her short-lived lover, and even at the beginning scene when she was killing her dog, she's not so callous but portrayed some sort of attachment.

But again the daughter Anja herself deprived her last warmth and possibility of being loved. Actually I think the man prefers Saiva more... if not for Anja teasing him first. When Saiva was about to confide in the man, the daughter called him over, and later he shared his story only with the daughter... With such parallel, I wonder if the daughter knew Saiva's story, or just grew up in the isolated environment. Personally I'm inclined to the first probability, but in that case won't she know her adopter is longing for insured company and love, and won't that be too cruel to abandon her alone? Maybe that's too much for a teenager to care, who just wants to explore the world and enjoy her happiness... But can't that also be regarded as careless and disheartening? (Also I think the character of the daughter is a little flat... we don't know much about her...)

Then even the most horrifying part seems to lose power against the background of immense loneliness and sorrow...... I'm not surprised to see Saiva do so, since she's hardly been loved, she is about to lose love again, she's an experienced killer... But also there's a moment, I wonder if in exchange, Loki is taking Saiva and Anja away, will Anja do the same Saiva to take the chance of being loved? (Since when their first kiss being detected, Anja portrayed some sort of jealousy then tried to possess Loki...) And then it comes back to the question of the amount truth in this situation, will Anja really act like this and care so less? Can Saiva really made up her mind to do this to whom companied her for years?

Maybe there could be more depict of the mother-daughter bond, so the impact of the last action will be more substantial, (but I don't know how, and now i think it's okay). Michelle Yeoh again played such a loser-in-love role, I'll weep for her, hope next time and next many times she'll not be hurt.