Hamarinn

Is it murder or accident? Is it ball lightning? Or is it an supernatural phenomenon? Is the conflict metaphysical versus physical? supernatural versus natural? industrial versus environmental? Is the main plot man versus nature, man versus man, or man versus himself? Good grief. Can't decide what it wants to be. Can't even decide what height its cliff face is! Are the birds the same size as the humans? Where is the actual path up the side to the top? I watched it all...don't mind using subtitles...enjoyed seeing topography other than Southern California/Hollywood. Acting was acceptable, but overall, the direction seemed clumsy and the plot never coalesced sufficiently to reach a satisfying conclusion. Very disappointed.

In an isolated island country, with a low crime rate and small and at least distantly related population, it would be tricky and/or ridiculous to construct a crime story with lots of heavy criminals and weaponry involved. So you have to find some other points of references and develop them into a credible story - local practices, beliefs, landscape peculiarities...

All this is clearly visible in Hamarinn (The Cliff) where standard issue crime drama story lines and characters are intertwined with (super)natural phenomena and abilities, alas the latter are just depicted and, unlike the tragic event, would obtain no explanation or solution. True, the acting is good, beautifully harsh Icelandic nature visible, but there was still something that fell short for me, falling behind e.g. Ófærð and other films where Baltasar Kormákur is usually involved. Sometimes mysticism is not enough to make the series rounded - or provides unnecessary "simple solution" to worldly acts and thoughts.

I do love Nordic Crime series and Trapped is one of my favourites together with Katla from Iceland. Icelandic series have usually great landscape scenes. The Cliff has these kind of scenes as well. Nevertheless, one should not expect a great serie like Trapped from the Cliff. I am talking about the first season. I have not watched the second season which is called as the "Lava Field". The acting is alright but the story itself is very basic and it is not a huge mystery. There are some paranormal parts in the story. However, these parts looked like a bad copy of Bruce Willis' "The Sixth Sense" movie. For that reason, this serie is ok and it worths 6 points over 10.

This movie from Iceland is not as edgy as other types of Nordic Noir movies. The script is a little childish and confusing, and while the acting is good, the dialog is not. As is common with many Scandinavian movies, everything has to be neatly wrapped up in the end and no one really gets hurt too badly. Any murder that's committed seems to have some moral or "good" reason. This movie, although it has an environmental message, is nowhere as preachy as those from Sweden and especially Norway!

Think "The Killing" substitute enverimentel issues for politics, add a touch of the supernatural, and you have "Hammarin", a 4 part drama from iceland. It all works very well. The acting is excellent.