kieran's - BFI: 10 great Icelandic films List
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Rams (2015)Hrútar
In a secluded valley in Iceland, brothers Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their prized ancestral sheep. But a long-term grudge means that they haven't spoken to each other for four decades, passing messages via the sheep dog. When a lethal ovine disease suddenly appears in the valley, the authorities move in to cull all of the livestock. But Gummi and Kiddi don't give up easily and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle, and Gummi by using his wits. As the authorities close in the brothers will need to come together to save the sheep - and themselves - from extinction. - Director:
- Grímur Hákonarson
- Cast:
- Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving
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Children of Nature (1991)Börn náttúrunnar
In the film 'Children of Nature', old Thorgeir (Gísli Halldórsson) must leave his home far off in the Icelandic 'countryside' and move into a home for senior citizens in Reykjavik. There he meets an old friend from his childhood, Stella (Sigríður Hagalín). Thorgeir soon becomes unhappy living there and together with Stella he steals a jeep. Together they leave the city for Stella's old home in northwestern Iceland. 'Children of Nature' is a drama who asks us: how important is it to have a long life if you have to leave everything that has a meaning for you? - Director:
- Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
- Cast:
- Gísli Halldórsson, Sigríður Hagalín, Baldvin Halldórsson
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Cold Fever (1995)Á köldum klaka
Shamed by his grandfather, Japanese businessman Hirata cancels his golfing trip to Hawaii and instead travels to Iceland to perform a traditional ritual at the scene of his parents death several years earlier. So begins one bizarre encounter after another as the reluctant Hirata treks across the frozen landscape. - Director:
- Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
- Cast:
- Masatoshi Nagase, Lili Taylor, Fisher Stevens
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Living on social security in the protected environment of his mothers home, Hilmir has never felt the urge to venture beyond the confines of his neighbourhood, 101 Reykjavik, and is determined to resist adulthood at all cost. However he soon finds out that life is busy making other plans for him when he discovers that the woman he had just been to bed with happens to be his mother's lesbian lover, and may be carrying his child. - Director:
- Baltasar Kormákur
- Cast:
- Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Victoria Abril, Hanna María Karlsdóttir
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Stormy Weather (2003)Stormviðri
A very sad but genuinely human story. The middle-aged Icelandic woman Loa (Didda Jónsdóttir) is seriously mentally ill. Finally it turns out that her husband is a latent alcoholic who submits to his addiction whenever Loa leaves him. When she is at home, she is living a normal life and taking care of her children. Sometimes she cannot stand it any longer and just runs away. During one such tour she was eventually found in England. During the tour of the present movie she has ended up in a mental hospital in France, without identification papers and apparently being mute. The young psychiatrist Cora (Élodie Bouchez) is in charge of her and applies unorthodox methods. She is the only one who suspected that Loa might not be French. Interpol soon identified Loa and on Cora's day off she was sent home. Cora immediately flows to Iceland, where everyone including Loa's husband thinks she is a tourist wanting to see the volcano. Loa is prepared to follow Cora back to the French hospital. Unfortunately, the local doctor happens to see them on their way to the boat. He knows nothing of psychiatry and prevents what he perceives as 'criminal kidnapping'. The movie ends with a complete failure for both Loa and Cora. - Director:
- Sólveig Anspach
- Cast:
- Élodie Bouchez, Didda Jónsdóttir, Baltasar Kormákur
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Noi Albinoi (2002)Nói albínói / Noi the Albino
Is he the village idiot or a genius in disguise? 17 year old Noi (Tómas Lemarquis) drifts through life on a remote fjord in the north of Iceland, cut off from the outside world by a shroud of snow. He dreams of escape from this white-walled prison with Iris (Elín Hansdóttir), a pretty young city girl who works in a local gas station, but his clumsy breaks for freedom spiral out of control and seem doomed to end in failure. - Director:
- Dagur Kári
- Cast:
- Tómas Lemarquis, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Elín Hansdóttir
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Screaming Masterpiece (2006)Gargandi snilld
It captures all the energy of the world's hottest indie music scene in Iceland's cool capital city of Reykjavik. There are masterful performances by international superstars like Bjork, Sigur Ros and Mum, as well as insider looks at the music being played in local clubs by a host of other bands with unpronounceable names but unforgettable music. The film journeys through Iceland's breathtaking landscape and through the centuries to Viking times in search of an answer to the question, asked again and again by the music press and eager fans: Why is this music so hot? This is a feature-length powerhouse film, throbbing with musical energy and fast-moving visuals. If you have ever wondered at the distinct and captivating music of Iceland, this is the film that will take you to the source and show you where it's all coming from. An inspirational rock-documentary, Screaming Masterpiece is a piece of music history. - Director:
- Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon
- Cast:
- Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Barði Jóhannsson, Walter Durkacz
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The ingenious dual narrative exerts a powerful and emotional grip, as inspector Erlendur’s crime investigation reveals a far darker and more sinister case. Within the small Icelandic community Orn is mourning the death of his four-year-old daughter, lost to rare congenital disease with fierceness that borders on obsessions. These seemingly unrelated story lines wave tighter with calculated precision. - Director:
- Baltasar Kormákur
- Cast:
- Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
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Raquela Rios is a trans woman from the Philippines who dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris. In order to make her dreams come true, she turns from prostitution toward the more lucrative business of Internet porn. Her success as a porn star brings new friends, including Valerie (Valerie Grand Einarsson), another trans woman in Iceland, and Michael (Stefan C. Schaefer), the owner of the website Raquela works for. Valerie helps Raquela get as far as Iceland. From there, Michael offers her a rendezvous in Paris. Will Paris be everything she dreamed of? And will Michael turn out to be her Prince Charming? - Director:
- Olaf de Fleur Johannesson
- Cast:
- Raquela Rios, Stefan C. Schaefer, Olivia Galudo
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Volcano (2011)Eldfjall
When Hannes (Theodór Júlíusson) retires from his job as a janitor the big, empty time span that is the rest of his life begins. He is estranged from his family, has hardly any friends and the relationship to his wife has faded. Through drastic events, Hannes realises that he has to adjust his life in order to help someone he loves. 'Volcano' is a love story of someone who has to deal with the choices of the past and the difficulties of the present in order to embrace the future. - Director:
- Rúnar Rúnarsson
- Cast:
- Auður Drauma Bachmann, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Kristín Davíðsdóttir
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Of Horses and Men (2013)Hross í oss
Winner of the Best New Director award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Benedikt Erlingsson's critically acclaimed debut feature 'Of Horses and Men' is a darkly comic country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Set in the stunning Icelandic countryside, love, death and sex become interlaced in this playful, affectionate yet unflinching portrait of a remote valley community as seen from the horses' perspective. - Director:
- Benedikt Erlingsson
- Cast:
- Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Charlotte Bøving, Steinn Ármann Magnússon
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