Heartbreak meets ice: a jilted Dane melts the Arctic's loneliest man.
A young teacher, Eva Nygaard, arrives in Greenland from Denmark to surprise her fiancé, the Doctor Erik Halsøe, but is crushed to find he has not waited for her and he is about to be married to his assisting nurse. Eva travels to a small fishing village to await the next ship back to Denmark. There she enters into a tense and often confrontational relationship with Jens, a quiet moody Dane who manages a trading company outpost. Meanwhile, Jens is trying to persuade a Greenlander named Pavia to become a company fisherman, despite Pavia's fear of alienating his fellow villagers and upsetting the spirit, Qivitoq.
Cinematography
Greenland's glaciers shot like alien landscapes.
Acting
Villaume's silent devastation speaks volumes.
Direction
Balling finds warmth in frozen desolation.
Director
Erik Balling
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on location in Greenland with local Inuit cast—rare for 1950s Danish cinema, though their perspectives remain sidelined.
The film was Denmark's Oscar submission but lost to Fellini's La Strada; it remains the only Danish film set primarily in Greenland from this era.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
DK
