I did not find the film slow in the least. I thought the pacing and length were utterly perfect. This film is a beautiful balancing act, and here are just some of the reasons why:
Yes, the pacing is slow, but that is by design. The run time is also short, which balances that out.
I think slow feel comes largely from the lack of dialog, but that is a choice and a risk the director takes very deliberately. The absence of talky-talk and so-called clever reparte shines a bright light on the power of physical acting, as it most certainly does in this film.
Another thing that adds to the seeming "slowness" of the film are the long camera shots and use of static camera positions. I believe this was a brilliant choice by the director. It creates a painterly effect to the frames, and allows the viewer to take in the action and scenery and mood clearly and completely. The MTV quick-cut and hand held close action has been so over-used in the past two decades that we the viewers have become once again conditioned to that, and unable to appreciate the more classical approach taken by Refn. I was there, I was in the film, because in so many scenes the stillness of the camera mirrored the stillness of the characters who were in the film observing the central action.
Yes, there is a lot of almost overpowering stillness in this film. I felt that one of the over-arching themes was the wildness and harshness of the environment and nature, and how those qualities were reflected in the people. I also enjoyed just drinking in the landscapes and close shots of the natural elements - earth, stone, water, flora, sky. I think fire was absent as a deliberate choice, possibly to the detriment of the feng shui of the film, but I can allow that. The cold and the wet were clearly a foundation element in the mood of the film, fire would have corrupted that.
I think we can allow ourselves to be conditioned over time by the majority of films that are so dependent on dialog, action, wild-camera work, and fast-cut editing, that when something like this comes along we can be caught completely off-guard.
If you avoid spoilers and such, as you claim, you should also put forth the effort clear your mind of everyday Hollywood conditioning and subconscious or conscious expectations, and really meet this or any film on it's own terms. Certainly you should adjust your perceptive approach simply based on the fact that it is a European based production, not to mention the whole Scandinavian thing.
So clear your mind before watching this, or any film for that matter. As the film opens, allow the film to be itself. Try to open yourself up, and accept and embrace whatever it is that the film maker is doing for the time the film is playing. Don't fight what it is that the film wants to be until after the film is over, if you must fight it.
You don't have to like every film you see, but you will like more of them if you approach them on their own terms.
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