Virgin Mountain

Looking at the plot synopsis, 'Virgin Mountain' may seem like a typical Kevin James movie: Fusi is a 43 year old, overweight virgin who still lives with his mother, plays with toys and is bullied by his co-workers. His daily life is dominated by routines. Every morning he eats cereals, goes to work, visits his favorite restaurant and calls a radio station to wish for the same song to be played. It is after he breaks his routines that he meets the women he falls in love with.

The big difference to movies like 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' or 'Zookeeper', is that the humor does not result in 'fat guy falls' or 'fat guy has the intellect of a 12 year old', but rather of Fusis naivety and his incapability of social interactions. A lesser movie would make Fusi look like an unsophisticated low life, but Director Dagur Kári still manages to take his character seriously and creates a beautiful character study about an misunderstood, warm-hearted giant.

The numerous comedic elements are skillfully mixed with dramatic components and Gunnar Jónsson conveys all emotions to the audience with his brilliant portrayal of Fusi without relying on a ham fisted, overly emotional score. On the contrary, the score is subtle and fits the cold, but beautiful cinematography of the film.

Sadly, the movie is not without its flaws. The bullies seem more like 6th graders than grown-up men and there is one particular scene that depicts him slightly to naive, which makes him dumber than he actually is.

Nevertheless, these are just minor flaws and don't really hurt the great experience that this movie is.

I really appreciated this movie from Iceland. It reminded me TEDDY BEAR, a German movie I watched last week, speaking of a forty years adult, a bodybuilder, who lived with his widow mum and who looked for a female mate...Those two movies are quite nearly the same, except the two main characters are somewhat a bit different. TEDDY BEAR could me moving too but also less depressing, more optimistic. I loved the both anyway. I guess many stories like this happen in real life for many of us. I prefer this kind of features instead of the Hollywood style movies, where everything is fine in the end. I highly recommend this film to everyone.

This is a story about the meaning of life. If you wonder what it is, see this movie and you will learn that the meaning is to be good and do good deeds. It is a story of an overweight 40-something man.He still lives with his mother, and is obviously a virgin. One can say that he is unbelievably childish and naive, but it is his soul that is pure, exactly like children's, that makes this guy (who is on the surface unlovable) a true hero of modern times. He responds to bullying with kindness, to indifference with his eagerness to help. As the movie progresses, you will fall more and more in love with this guy and this movie. Although set in freezing Iceland, this movie will warm you hart like not many other.

This was the closing film of the Sarajevo Film Festival, and my favorite of the films I saw. I want to recommend it to everyone, but it isn't getting much worldwide distribution other than festivals, despite winning an audience award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is the story of a huge childlike man - huge in body, huge in spirit. At the beginning his childlike nature seems negative, but he proves to be profoundly beautiful in his loving innocence. Refusing to be hurt, refusing to withdraw from rejection, he is one of the most amazing heroes I have seen. The film is not sentimental - everything does not turn our 'right', but his goodness and hope remain intact as he opens out to the world. We saw the film in a huge open-air theater, and the audience clapped and whooped and whistled when a girl finally jumped him. A friend said her face got sore from smiling so much! See this film!

A sad and warm, somehow comical story at the same time. A minimalistic and very honest portrait of how even a little romance can brighten up a life when everything seems grey and cloudy. There is something about Icelandic movies and Icelandic music that just have that special paradox of melancholy and joy at the same time. This is a film about how small adventures in the everyday routine life can change the world of one person. It puts life in perspective and leaves you with a ambiguous feeling of satisfaction and wistfulness all at once. Something like a rainy day. It makes me realise that the most important things are the relationship we build and the chances we take in life. I feel a need to see a continuation, yet I don't think there will ever be one.