Despegando a la vida

Sparrows is an Icelandic coming of age movie about the teenage boy Ari, who is forced to move in with his estranged father when his mother goes to work in Africa. At first it looks like it goes well, after he reluctantly has accepted the move from the city to a rural fishing community, with all that this involves. Soon he starts to hate it. And from then on it goes down. The film grows darker without me telling more about this, not to spoil any. The film is not for those who wants a happy-go-lucky story, because it isn't.

The film is beautifully shot, and the actors are all doing an outstanding job, Atli Oskar Fjalarsson playing Ari in particular. The father, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, and grandmother Kristbjörg Kjeld is also outstanding, as well as Rade Serbedzija, who plays Timislav at his working place. Top notch, and once more another great film from Iceland.

The film is Rúnar Rúnarsson's second feature after the acclaimed "Eldfjall" ("Volcano"), and again he shows a great talent. It's also the second time main actor is in one of his films. Atli Oskar Fjalarsson also played in his "2 Birds" from 2008, as a kid.

The trailer gives an OK view of the film without telling too much, and not the dark parts. So then you're warned.

A incredible film with brilliantly executed shots and solid performances by the actors that will leave a great impact on you. I like to call this film an "exhaler", because when the film is over, you will have to exhale deeply because you are so overwhelmed by its amazingly done third act.

The third act is without a doubt the strongest part of this film, where you will be siting on the edge of your seat in excitement thanks to the beautiful long shots and the very minimal use of dialogue.

Sparrows is a brilliant drama with solid performances, and incredibly long shots that are handled perfectly and leaves a massive impact on you. Definitely worth a watch. Or two. Or three.

Sparrows feels like the quintessential coming-of-age film, and therefore hit me as quite familiar and not all that original. I suppose it was nice to see that there are parallels in the way we grow up in America that show up in other parts of the world as well. Change all the dialogue to English and I could believe that this entire film took place in the US (with only a few minor cultural differences.) Ari is definitely a relatable young man, and I appreciated that he wasn't the cliched rebellious teen. He did his best to go with the flow despite the fact that he was losing any stability in his home life. Perhaps it's a bad thing that I found him so likeable, because that made the misadventures that befall him a terrible struggle to get through.

There are a number of people who do wrong by our protagonist, and it never feels like something he deserves, which is a type of story that always irritates me. Some of the stuff that happens feels quite bleak, and the ending doesn't resolve much of anything. There is a slice-of-life feel to the story that made it seem less like there was progression or resolution in the plot, and more like we were just watching a snapshot of a time in this young man's life. That lack of drive or focus on a traditional story structure made the entire experience a bit underwhelming for me. To be fair, it's not a style of movie that appeals to me all that much in the first place, but the acting was good and the story was told in a genuine way that felt authentic. For those who are fans of a heavy coming-of-age drama, Sparrows would be a treat, I'm just not one of those people.