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Zero Degrees Kelvin

Released Nov 27, 1995 1h 53m Drama List
Tomatometer 4 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
After his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, sensitive poet Henrik Larsen (Garb B. Eidsvold) becomes a fur trapper and is sent to Greenland. There he inhabits a small, filthy cabin with the brutish veteran Randbaek (Stellan Skarsgard) and the wily scientist Holm (Bjørn Sundquist). Randbaek takes sadistic delight in taunting Henrik with graphic tales of his girlfriend's infidelities, and tensions among the three men mount as they struggle to survive in the punishing conditions.

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Rated: 3/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 31, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews It's a beautifully photographed slow developing character study that builds to its powerful conclusion after setting all the human elements in place. Rated: B Feb 22, 2004 Full Review Walter Chaw Film Freak Central Rated: 5/5 Jun 21, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (22) audience reviews
Audience Member i dare you to recover from this emotional bumper car~ you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll beg for mercy... stellan skarsgard is a wild man unforgettable Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review William L World-Famous Actor Stellan Skarsgård (speaking Norwegian): "I've got enough hair on my arse to knit an entire sweater!" This movie gained a sort of status for me well before I actually watched it, because: 1) it appears on the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and 2) it is still somehow damn near impossible to find with English subtitles. As of this writing there are fewer than 800 people on Letterboxd that have marked it as watched. So it was both essential and totally unknown, and if I ever wanted to finish the list I would have to buckle down and find a copy that wasn't a $60 DVD from Amazon. Now having watched it, the most surprising aspect is that it was actually a good movie. Zero Kelvin is a bleak drama about three commercial hunters isolated in the northern tundra for a year - two old salts and one young poet. There isn't much around to do besides work and talk, and the confined cabin leads to boiling tempers and clashes of personality as they argue about love, loyalty, and morality. Think of it like The Lighthouse, but less surreal and confusing. And a lot colder. It's crazy how well this film conveys the sensation of cold, like an ever-present, continually dangerous fourth character. Once they have been left to their work, never is there much in the way of a sustained respite, there are always cracks in the wall for the wind to howl through and an endless tundra to get lost in. And inside the small hut that these three call home, the only place where the cold isn't, there is a mountain of past traumas and anger festering. There is real psychological drama at play here, characters display depth with turns as both sensitive and harsh. Skarsgård has legitimately one of the best performances I've seen from him and the other members of the main cast, Eidsvold and Sundquist, are certainly no slouches. I came looking for copper, and I found gold. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/22/21 Full Review S R 1001 movies to see before you die. A grim realist take on primitive male interactions in a remote arctic tundra. It's a good character study and acting, but it still just seems a bit too crazy. It's still and interesting, well made film. It was on youtube. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Tremendous movie. great reality TV. stark landscapes mad sex starved trapper with a new helper (a poet) and a scientist in Greenland during the first part of the century (1920s). the setting is so stark. the cinematography is excellent. Great Story Great scenery. The Brutality of Man and nature. Peta aficionados should stay away from this movie. All told this is really a brilliant movie!! Kept me glued to the screen!! Highest Rating five stars! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review walter m [font=Century Gothic]In "Zero Kelvin," Randbaek(Stellan Skarsgard) is the foreman at a remote post in Greenland in the 1920's; the only other inhabitant being Holm(Bjorn Sundquist), a sharpshooting scientist. Randbaek is under great pressure to produce pelts for The Company and is angry that the quota for the following year has been doubled. He is furious that the new man he requested, Henrik(Gard B. Eidsvold), turns out to be a soft-looking poet and writer. Henrik has something to prove, not only to himself but also to his girlfriend, Gertrude(Camilla Martens).[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Zero Kelvin" is an interesting look at masculinity that regretfully makes its points through talk rather than action. It does not help that the focus is on Henrik, rather on the more interesting Randbaek. Also up for discussion, is how much human company and love a person needs. Of course, no man is an island but that does not mean there is anything wrong in finding a nice, solitary place for oneself in the world.[/font] Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The best gritty who's gonna survive sorta film you can come across. Stellan Skarsgard steals the show per usual as the cabin feverish Randbaek. Really great idea of keeping it to essentially three characters makes the film much more powerful and intense. Beautiful snowy images as well Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Zero Degrees Kelvin

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis After his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, sensitive poet Henrik Larsen (Garb B. Eidsvold) becomes a fur trapper and is sent to Greenland. There he inhabits a small, filthy cabin with the brutish veteran Randbaek (Stellan Skarsgard) and the wily scientist Holm (Bjørn Sundquist). Randbaek takes sadistic delight in taunting Henrik with graphic tales of his girlfriend's infidelities, and tensions among the three men mount as they struggle to survive in the punishing conditions.
Director
Hans Petter Moland
Producer
Bent Rognlien
Screenwriter
Lars Bill Lundholm, Hans Petter Moland, Peter Tutein
Distributor
Kino International Corp.
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 27, 1995, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 11, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA)
$8.7K
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR