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.

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.

I just went out of the Tribeca Film Festival's screening of this movie. EVERYONE that came out of the room had the same expression: WHAT A GEM! Even at the time of giving our vote for the Audience's award, which went on a scale from 1 to 5, we all had the same thought. A five is not enough!

Although a little slow in the beginning, later on you are thankful for that as it is crucial to the development of the character.

It is a BEAUTIFUL film. The photography, the acting, the story. Everything was so subtle and fluid, without much paraphernalia.

Great storytelling, great depth in the characters, great acting.

This is not everyone's cup of tea. The slow moving pace, the story itself do not cry for much attention. The story of out main "hero" could be described as a boring one. One that is very close to life. Which makes it also intriguing for some viewers of course, but not really commercial (to put it lightly).

It's acted superbly and has some nice touches on a character who just wants to do the right thing (being too nice at times and innocent to a degree he does seem dangerous to some). Not that our main character is just a mountain of love (no pun intended) and cannot get angry. But you do sometimes wonder how he takes all the things in, that are being done to him (bullying doesn't stop at school for some).

A weird little movie/tale for those interested in quieter forms of "entertainment"

Glaciers of Iceland melt with warmth of Icelandic cinema. Virgin Mountain is distant but full of love, steady like a paint of cold colors but earnest and sincere same as Fusi who is naming movie. Embracing Fusi is a complicated state for audiences. It is so easy to love and to be one with him but he reminds us people who are same as him around us and who are ignored by us. It gives an amount of heartache scaled with moral compass of every individual viewer. Besides it, the empathy we feel for him gives us a hope to be better person.

Fusi may be the most naive man in the world. He has not evil inside and everything is so simple for him even sometimes he can't see the consequences of his actions. He doesn't get mad against people who are unfair to him, he even doesn't know what revenge is. Everything he knows is helping other and acting for the common good. But beyond of his fragile look, he keeps a solid persona as same as his size. He is like a virgin nature which welcomes the torrid heat of sun and the fruitful spaciousness of rain with same excitement. After all a smile on his face is a relief in our souls.

Virgin Mountain promises a good time for watching even though relatively dark and slow shootings. Good balance with dram and comedy keep viewer's eyes open and modest acting of Gunnar Jónsson makes movie reliable and striker. This festival movie reflects the real soul of Icelandic cinema in a very successful way.