Gargandi snilld

'Gargandi snilld', or 'Screaming Masterpiece' as it is known in English, is a documentary featuring many of the bands to have come out of Iceland in recent decades, including Sigur Ros, The Sugarcubes, Mum and Bang Gang. While it falls short of really answering the question "Why is a country of 300,000 people so music-mad?', it does go some way towards documenting the nation's culture through its musical endeavours.

Fans of creative and alternative bands will no doubt be enthralled by the combination of live concert footage and intimate performances staged for the film-maker's cameras. Frustratingly only the interviews are translated, rather than the lyrics of some of the performances. While this matters less with the likes of Sigur Ros (whose vocalist sings in a made-up language rather than Icelandic)it is a critical oversight with some of the bands, such as a hip-hop outfit whose MC talks passionately about the importance of his lyrics.

Similarly, the film does little more than scratch the surface when it comes to asking why Icelanders are so passionately engaged with the creation of music; nor does it really look the impact of the once-deeply ingrained Lutheran religious code upon Icelandic culture.

Despite these flaws, and its lack of a critical focus, as a lover of music, and especially as a fan of many of the bands featured in 'Gargandi snilld', I found this an enthralling and engaging documentary film.

...do see this movie! I am not a fan of several of the musical genres covered in this film but nonetheless found myself writing down album and performer names during the film to buy later.

Its format of interviews interspersed with concert tapes or filmed performances cuts a wide swath across the Icelandic music scene. Folk, Norse, Punk, Rock and Rap are all covered.

The musical heritage is described as a "combination of patriotism and adolescence", the result of living half-way between Europe and the United States and being descended from Vikings who stopped in Scotland for slaves and for Irish women "for DNA enrichment and poetry".

It's hard not to like a movie that includes the Foo Fighters calling upon a garage band from a town of 400 to open for them and hard not to like a country that has an official "Head Pagan".

A last note: "Odin's Raven Magic", based on a 900-year-old excerpt of the Edda was a major highlight for me, performed by Sigur Ros, Hilmar Orn Hilmarssen, the London Sinfonietta and a pair of xylophones made of great big hunks of sandstone! Just like in Hustle and Flow, it's hard not to leave the theater singing!

Now depending on your individual music taste may depend on whether you fully appreciate this documentary. However, anyone with an interest in the beauty that is the country of Iceland, alternative music of all genre, just downright decent cultures - will find much here. With music and history moulding to shape a country like no other, the downbeat interviews on show simply convey what Iceland is all about, wrapped up in an hour and a half to one of the most diverse soundtracks around. Most of us have already experienced Bjork's ethereal voice, here backed by a pulsating techno beat at one point; slightly less have witnessed the moving soundscapes of Sigur Ros, never more effecting than sound tracked to expansive shots over Icelands many mountain range; but the joy in hearing Muggisson's brilliant folk sounds, Bang Gang, SlowBow, Mum, the far too brief glimpse of Singapore Sling, early Sugarcubes footage, the development of Punk or witnessing a weekly church meet with the congregation simply having a fun time through music....its all very inspiring to see the protagonists being so down to earth about the whole thing....and thats the truly inspiring thing. No pretence unless warranted....Unique