Iceman (2017 Film)
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''Iceman'' () is a 2017 German-Italian-Austrian adventure drama film written and directed by Felix Randau. It is a fictional story about the life of
Ötzi Ötzi, also called The Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", ) at the Austria–Italy border. He i ...
, a
natural mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...
of a man discovered on 19 September 1991 in the
Ötztal Alps The Ötztal Alps (, ) are a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps, in the Tyrol (state), State of Tyrol in western Austria and the South Tyrol, Province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography The Ötztal Alps are arrayed at the head of ...
. The film, which was filmed in the Tyrolean and Bavarian
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
, features almost no dialogue, with a minimal amount in untranslated language based on reconstructed
Rhaetian The Rhaetian is the latest age (geology), age of the Triassic period (geology), Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Triassic system (stratigraphy), System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the N ...
, created for the film by a linguist.


Plot

In the Ötztal Alps, more than 5300 years ago, a
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
clan has settled near a creek. It is their leader Kelab's responsibility to be the keeper of the group’s holy shrine, Tineka, contained in a wooden box. While Kelab is hunting, the settlement is attacked by three men, including Krant and his son Tasar. The attackers find the shrine and take it. The other members of the tribe are brutally murdered. The only survivor is a newborn baby. Blinded by pain and fury, Kelab sets out after the murderers on a trek through the Alps, bringing with him the newborn baby and a goat for its milk to feed the baby. He comes across a group of three men and seemingly kills two of them before realizing these are not the persons who attacked his village. They appear to be a father and son and the third man is an abductee. He decides to let the third man go. The man who he decided not to kill tries to follow him and to travel with him but Kelab instructs him to not follow him. He next meets an old man (named Ditob) and a younger woman (named Kulan). They allow him to stay with them for the night and feed him by the campfire. At night, the younger woman comes to him to have sex but he rebuffs her advances. The next day he continues on his travels but he leaves the newborn baby and goat behind with the old man and woman. He catches up to the three attackers but the attackers are higher on the mountain and shoot arrows down at him. The arrows miss but one of the attackers falls off a cliff. Kelab approaches the dead body and gouges out his eyes while screaming his dead wife and son's names. The remaining two attackers get away. Kelab pursues them high into the snowy Alps. He finally comes close to them and charges them both but falls into a
crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...
. He survives the fall and he unsuccessfully tries to climb out of the crevasse. Eventually, a rope is thrown down to him and he climbs out. It is the man who he had decided to not kill who has helped him. This man looks at him and then moves on. Krant and Tasar make it home and greet the younger man's wife, Mitar. While Mitar is comforting Tasar on his wounded leg, Kelab kills him with an arrow. Kelab and Krant fight, with Kelab overpowering and killing Krant. He returns to their camp to find the Tineka and brings Krant's body to the funeral
pyre A pyre (; ), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire. In discussi ...
. During the night, Mitar tries to kill him. Kelab sets off again into the high Alps and is suddenly struck by an arrow shot by one of the two men from earlier, completing their own revenge. Kelab rolls down the mountainside before dying in the deep snow.


Cast

*
Jürgen Vogel Jürgen Peter Vogel (; born 29 April 1968 in Hamburg) is a German actor and producer. One of the most successful character actors in German cinema, he first broke out in 1992 with his role in ''Little Sharks''.Jürgen Vogel i"German Who is Who"/ ...
– Kelab (
Ötzi Ötzi, also called The Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", ) at the Austria–Italy border. He i ...
) *
Susanne Wuest Susanne Elisabeth Wuest (born 26 September 1979) is an Austrian actress. Career Initially a piano enthusiast as a child, Wuest has since carved out a career in film. She appeared as the vampire Lisa in the web-series, ''Judas Goat'' for the ...
– Kisis *
André Hennicke André Hennicke (born 21 September 1958) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1984. Hennicke was born in Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony. He was awarded a German television award for best actor for ''Something to ...
– Krant *
Sabin Tambrea Sabin Tambrea (born 18 November 1984) is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Ludwig II of Bavaria in ''Ludwig II (2012 film), Ludwig II''. Personal life Tambrea was born in Romania and moved to Germany at the age of three. He marrie ...
– Tasar * Violetta Schurawlow – Mitar *
Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), which made him a pop cul ...
– Ditob * Anna F. – Kulan


Historicity

Although analysis of the iceman's DNA has proven that his eyes were brown, the filmmakers, incongruously, portray them as blue. Said Randau, "That's just because the actor who plays Ötzi has blue eyes and we decided not to change it."


Reception

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 22 reviews, with a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating of 6.12 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A prehistoric drama with the heart of a western, Iceman uses classic archetypes – and deft direction – to tell a stark and simple yet powerfully effective story." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 52 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Accolades


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, 5907748
Official website
(archived) 2010s adventure drama films German adventure drama films Italian adventure drama films Austrian adventure drama films Films set in the 4th millennium BC Films set in the Alps Films set in the Stone Age 2017 drama films 2017 films Prehistoric people in popular culture 2010s German films Ötzi