Vanskabte Land / Volaða land / Godland

At the end of the 19th century, the young Danish priest Lucas is sent to Iceland. He is supposed to build a church in an isolated settlement on the rugged island. He hires a small retinue of locals for the arduous, not exactly unperilous journey. Lucas's luggage includes a large wooden cross and his photographic equipment. Whenever the pastor sets up his camera, he is forced to realise that he is ultimately unable to get a picture of either the country or its inhabitants because both the people and nature shun him. Furthermore, his ignorance of the Icelandic language leads to complications. The deeper he penetrates into the vast, untouched landscape, the more he goes astray from his mission and stops acting in accordance with the principles of his faith. Arriving at his destination, Lucas seems to completely lose his moral equilibrium. Amid a landscape occupied by myths and fairy-tales, the wooden cross comes across as nothing but absurd.