Heartstone: Un été islandais

First feature from Icelandic director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, this year Venice's Queer Lion award receiver, which also competes in the Venice Days category. HEARTSTONE patiently limns a poignant coming-of-age crisis between two 14-year-old boys Thor (Einarsson) and Kristján (Hinriksson) in a remote fishing village with admirable unpretentiousness and sensitivity, only if its 129 minute length could have been pared down into something more coherent to deaden a tinge of fatigue instigated by its monotonous locale and milieu.

There is no one single second taking us away from the placid community, so first-timer Guðmundsson enlists famed DP Sturla Brandth Grøvlen to majestically singles out Iceland's unique coastal landscape and topography to an effect that it effectively looms large as a wordless character breathing menace and bleakness within spitting distance, which is aesthetically enthralling in its own terms, especially for us, armchair sightseer.

Thor and Kristján are thick as thieves, yet physically, the latter is in full-blown physique, tall and robust, while the former is vexed by the fact that his pubic hair has yet to sprout. Nevertheless, impelled by nascent sexual awakening, curiosity or even boredom, Thor tentatively chases local gal Beta (Valsdóttir), and naively thinks they can form a secure rectangle of two pairs, him and Beta, Kristján and Hanna (Njálsdóttir), Beta's bestie. As any boring teenagers stuck in a hamlet before the circulation of Internet and smart phone, they arrange secret sleepover, play truth-or-dare until Kristján becomes a killjoy when Thor and him share a platonic kiss, a warning sign too big to ignore, and inevitably they attempt boy-girl intimacy, but a self-conscious Kristján bluntly flinches from Hanna's advance while Thor successfully scores with Beta.

Also, audience will realize in the halfway that the film has been subtly and unswervingly shifting its preference from the usual subject - the one who struggles with his sexual orientation and gestates an unspeakable affection towards his best friend - to the unknowingly desired, a heterosexual boy who can playfully joke about homosexuality, but the fact that his best friend, with whom he spends every day, playing and messing around, is secretly in love with him, has completely eluded him, until something bad happens and he becomes the last one to know. The same old story, we have seen many a time, but the changing of focal point assuages the tragic undertow and takes its aim to show what happens to those who are affected, when the film reaches its tail end, it is ultimately affirmative, not at all self-congratulatory, in the end of the day, their bond doesn't turn sour because of the revelation and its controversial nature, on the contrary, it has been bolstered up since the purity of their friendship has never been sullied, this is what really counts, no matter that they have to face the unpleasant separation, c'est la vie. As in the final scene, the metaphor is self- evident, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, there is a tough world out there, not just for all the Kristjáns.

Leading actor Baldur Einarsson, is a key factor attributes to the movie's triumph of hitting its emotional core with appreciable compassion and conviction, such an unfeigned force of nature to be reckon with in his debut, and he incredibly captures the challenging emotional heave of his rite- of-passage. The rest cast is given lesser arcs to juggle with, nevertheless, Hinriksson impresses with his physical forbearance in one symbolic scene where he dabbles into a freezing pool in the wilderness, whilst Filippusdóttir, who plays Thor's mother, actually, a single mother of 3 teenagers, frustratingly beckons an inauspicious future of adulthood (both Thor and Kristján's familial situations are far from perfect), of those who are enmeshed in that narrow-mindness and dreariness, astonishing scenery is for gallant tourists only, it cannot fill the void of emptiness in those who are powerlessly stuck.

An exceptional discovery in Venice 73', HEARTSTONE should be on the watch-list of cinephiles who has a sweet tooth for tactful character analysis or exotic atmosphere, there is absolutely no question that it can be resonant with a far broader demography on top of its queer tag.

Sensitive. So beautifully constructed in each detail and raw in his way to describe what it's like to growing up.

Very hard movie to watch very beautiful landscapes and setting. In Iceland blood runs thick I think it was all done very well and Realistically and it is so sad such a sad story All the animal abuse was not fun to watch but added a reasonable and important effect to Kristján and Thor's mindsets. I think there is a lot of talent in all of these child actors but I do think the subject matter breached comfortability for me watching them act. Very rough scenes: when Kristján is screaming underwater When Thor almost falls down the cliff When Kristján is crying in the horse stables

2020 Edit :

This movie has been in the back of my mind the whole day. I think it's because there's a lot to unpack here and I went to bed last night without processing it all. Before I get into the actual review let me just say that this was visually, emotionally, and captivatingly stunning.

So at first, I thought that I only enjoyed this because it was filmed in Iceland and the landscape (and skies and sunsets and clouds!!) were amazing. Looking back, I think that wasn't entirely it. The imagery was intertwined with the emotive connotations of each scene so thoughtfully. I take back what I said in my last review about moving to Wales, I'm going to Iceland instead.

Heartstone is a coming of age film revolving around the lives of two best friends, Thor and Christian. Both boys have difficult familial relationships and are going through the awkwardness and drama that comes with being a teen. They can rely on each other, their friends, and the two girls that take romantic interests in them. It was so fun to watch them learn from their town and their friends and grapple with really introspective feelings and thoughts about themselves. I felt like I was there with them and often felt this weird aesthetically stimulating sensation which was so cool to experience.

I liked that there was no big revelation or "aha moment" of self-discovery because your identity isn't something you just come to terms with overnight (although Christian does experience some very detrimental and critical things that do change his life quite drastically, he is multifaceted and continues to battle with these things throughout the entirety of the movie). These moments are scaffolded and broken down into reasonable pieces. I thought the film did a great job of expanding on this, and it alludes to the fact that both of these characters will probably still be battling an internal struggle in the future. Coming of age teen movies often feel the need to tie up all loose ends, but I'm glad that this didn't. The actors were did a fantastic job of expressing the complexity of what the characters were feeling.

If you are looking for a couple of hours of solitude, beauty, and reflection, this is your jackpot. There is so much more I could say about this but I think I'll rewatch and maybe do another review so I can nuance my thoughts a bit more.

Seen at the Film Fest Ghent 2016 (website: filmfestival.be/en). Despite earlier resolutions to never see coming-of-age movies again, I booked tickets for this one as it looked different, and it indeed was different too. Of course, the usual pubertal problems were not avoided, but did not stay in the foreground too much, thereby not overwhelming the real issues this movie was about, as outlined in the IMDb synopsis, plus some other interesting topics as an extra freebie.

The total running time of over 2 hours is well spent, and is really needed to explore the relevant topics and the insides of the main protagonists. Part of the time is devoted to related problems in the environment of the two young men. One example is Thor's divorced mother, also Christian's parents as a second example, each with their own set of problems. All this combines nicely together in the main story line, taking care of a welcome deviation from the central theme that some may consider not heavy enough to stand on its own feet. Thor's sister as well as the two young women who are the obvious candidate partners for Thor and Christian, have their own useful role, yet are a bit sidelined in the overall story.

All in all, it is obvious that Thor and Christian are the main protagonists, who succeed very well in carrying the full story from A to Z. Apart from aforementioned threesome girls (Thorn's sister plus two) being portrayed a bit too stereotypical, the rest of the cast performs very well in their respective roles, be it large or small. All of them act believably and none are cardboard characters. And finally, can we deem Island's nature to be an additional protagonist, perfectly casted and playing very naturally??

I loved the movie. It was incredible, the actings were great! I've watched it two times so far already. I'll buy it's dvd/bluray and watch it many more times. Very natural and realistic movie.. Unique! 👌🏼