This Norwegian film was listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, but it was pretty much impossible to get my hands on the UK, either online or on DVD, I'm glad I did finally find how to watch it. Basically set in the 1920 Norway, in Oslo, Henrik Larsen (Gard B. Eidsvold) is an aspiring poet, he proposed marriage to his girlfriend Gertrude (Camilla Martens), but she is unsure if she want to commit to anyone. Larsen is hurt, so he decides he needs a change, so he finds a job working for a year as a trapper in East Greenland, there the temperature is zero kelvin (absolute zero). It is not a welcoming environment for the sensitive Larsen, used to the city life, he is teamed up with seemingly rough old sailor and fellow trapper Randbæk (Stellan Skarsgård), and scientist Jakob Holm (Bjørn Sundquist). The three men are trapped in a tiny hut, as the arctic winter sets in, a complex and intense love/hate relationship develops between Randbæk and Larsen. Holm remains mostly quiet, Larsen gets a lot of ribbing from his rough-hewn veteran trapper companion, but he and Randbæk are more similar to one another than either would like to admit. It comes to a point when Holm disappears, the two men have to decide to search for him, or remain sheltered and safe, but they are forced to leave when a fire accidentally causes the hut to burn down. The two men ride out by dog sled across the icy plains to find Holm, they do eventually find him, in a ravine and dead by hanging. The two men take the body, but get lost in the snow and end up going the wrong direction, across a large lake, the ice is not very thick, there is a clash as to whether to go across or round. The two men fight, but Larsen manages to subdue Randbæk and gains control of the dog sled, going across the lake, until he finds shelter in an abandoned ship. Larsen is surprised when Randbæk returns, but he simply sits back to have a talk, the two eventually go outside and have a physical fight, until Larsen kills Randbæk. In the end, Larsen returns to civilisation, where the authorities question what happened, after he tells the story and the bodies are discovered, but it seems there is not enough evidence to convict him, Larsen is released and allowed to reunite with Gertude. Also starring Paul-Ottar Haga as Officer, Johannes Joner as Company Man, Erik Øksnes as Captain and Lars Andreas Larssen as Judge. When I watched this film, there were no English subtitles available, only Norwegian, so it took me much longer to watch, just over five hours, but it was worth it. Skarsgård in his native language is great as the suspicious sailor man, as is the vulnerable Eidsvold, the story is interesting, and it is cool seeing the conflict play out in isolation amidst stunningly bleak arctic scenery of Svalbard, (if you can get your hands on it) it is a simple enjoyable drama. Good!

This is a powerful film that has only its beginning and end as a downside, it is a film that concentrates on the relationship between the Nietzschean Beyond Good and Evil duality with a bit of Hamsun thrown in. The characters involved, a young philosopher/writer, who is innocent, a hard man, who represents corruption and depravity, and the scientist, who is a mixture of both of them with the cognitive sense of reason, are put into a fiery situation, namely a Sartrean "Hell", as they find themselves on a deserted island near the arctic, capturing skins for a company that is in Norway. At first they get along, but the stubborn man keeps bothering the poet and soon they are at odds with one another, eventually resulting in the destruction of one of them. I didn't like the beginning because it was pretentious, and the end was too malicious, but an excellent film indeed for its descent into the schism of human understanding and contemplation.

As a squeamish woman who rather hates film violence, I have to say that Zero Kelvin was an exceptional film. Henrik Larsen is a struggling writer who wants "raw material" and subjects himself for a year with 2 experienced hunter-trappers. I agree with the other film reviewer that this is a "character study" but want to point out that it is not flat or dull by any means. There's plenty of action throughout. I don't think that Larsen's boss and nemesis, Randbaeck, is evil but "troubled", and this distinction gives a lot of credence to the true struggle and relationship between the two men.

This film is not for everyone. It is a pretty dark and pessimistic story and leaves you thinking for a long time after you've watched it. I had to see it several times to really understand the difficult relationship between Randbaek and Larsen. All actors are superb and the pictures of the arctic landscape are stunning. More drama than adventure.