Á köldum klaka

Ten years later this very compact film still works its magic. Much has been said by many of the other contributors with one exception. It is not a film to be rushed. Rather you need to view at the speed the film dictates - not unlike "Paris, Texas. Like the swirling mists and snow it slowly envelops you. No frame is wasted. Even a casual remark in the aeroplane en-route to Iceland gives a link for the future.

Many different cultures have their cultural layers peeled back; American, Japanese, Icelandic and Norse mythology. It's up to the viewer to see what he or she sees.

I think the most telling scene in the film is the Icelander who befriends Hirata. Although he does not want to accompany Hirata to the ritual grave scene because of a 'spirit dream', he nonetheless is there to show him the way home. In so doing, he witnesses a universal value with Hirate - the passing of life.

There's much to be said for good small budget films. The story and direction have to be tightly constrained.

Hirata, a japanese businessman, is forced to visit Iceland instead of Hawaii based on family matters.

At several occations I found this film very amusing and charming, especially Hirata and the strange icelandic people that he meets, asking; "How do you like Iceland ?" - As Hirata is tricked into buying a deep-frozen car, he uses this to travel across Iceland. The radio play terrible folk music, but can't be turned off.. And when he picks up two american hitchers Lili Taylor and Fisher Stevens, naturally the music drives them mad.. Hence the exclaim: "It's an icelandic torture chamber"...Great! With Masatoshi Nagase from "Mystery Train" as Hirata, thoughts go to Jim Jarmusch though mostly for the directing of the film.. A great, cold, atmospheric vision, strange and beautiful.

This film is evidently a long commercial to lure tourists to Iceland. It contains all the famous national specialities of the country, and of course the beautiful landscape is presented in a particularly beautiful manner. Just like Ein Schloss am Wörthersee is advertising Carinthia – only much more charming!

I find the idea to use as a `hero' a Japanese who comes to Iceland unwillingly quite original (a friend of mine said she had never seen such an ornery Japanese before). The weird characters he meets on his way to the probably remotest and most unpleasant place in the world help to construct some kind of plot, and the movie is a pleasure to watch – throughout.

I am going to visit Iceland next week, and after watching Cold Fever I am particularly looking forward to it. And that's the result Jim Stark and Friðrik Friðriksson were out for, isn't it?

The first time I saw Cold Fever was May of last year. It was in a time when I was lost in life. That's when Cold Fever was coming on HBO. I sat there for 90 mins and I found the film very funny and quite moving. The way everyone keeps asking Atsushi, "So how do you like Iceland?" or the characters he runs into. Some of them include Laura, a woman who likes to "collect" funerals or American tourists Jack and Jill, who bicker all the time because they disagree on taking a vacation to Iceland. Atsushi first finds this trip as a burden because he was looking forward to going to Hawaii to play golf. Instead, he has to go to Iceland to perform a ritual by the river where his parents drowned. Then, throughout this journey he learns more about himself. He finds some of the strangest people you will meet...a cab driver performing a strange ritual, a girl who restarts his car with a sonic scream, and my favorites, the Islandic Cowboys. When he finally gets his mission accomplished of performing the ritual, he learns that sometimes a journey can take you places that aren't on any map. That is so true. I wanted this movie so bad that I finally received it from Amazon today. It is still as great as when I saw it a year ago. Check this out because it is brilliant.

Something about this film has kept me thinking about it since I saw it in 2001. I had the fortunate opportunity to see it because, at that time, Des Moines (Iowa) had one of the best indie-movie rental places (Oddities), ever. Oddities just stocked walls of foreign films and rows of independent films.

Cold fever had the intriguing elements of a young Japenese businessman reluctantly, and by family obligation, traveling around Iceland. That was enough for us to want to check it out.

The story is tremendous. I love the style and the performances give by the actors. Friðrik Þór Friðriksson really captures the feeling of the main character on film. It is almost haunting how Hirata operates... how he meanders through the vastness of the landscape.

Great film, great ending. I wish they would get it on DVD along with other works by the director