A White, White Day

Ingumundur lives alone on a desolate farm. He is trying to rebuild his house and is looking after his granddaughter from time to time. He is quiet on the surface, but underneath he is grieving for his recently deceased wife. When a disturbing detail about his wife's past suddenly comes to the surface it threatens to destroy the fragile peace he has created, and affects everyone he loves.

When the movie starts with good few minutes of a car driving down a misty road you know you are in for a long ride. The harsh landscape of the setting is almost a character in the film. It gives the movie almost a magnetic quality. But there's a sense of imminent tragedy lurking underneath it all.

WHITE WHITE DAY tells a seemingly simple story, but is secretive at times, letting the viewers decide for themselves what motivates the characters. And it is often what happens off screen that has the real impact.

The cinematography however goes a bit overboard with still static shots of everchanging nature, as beautiful as they are they quickly turn irritating.

There are wonderful performances from all involved, specifically a tour de force from the lead Ingvar Siggurdson, as he slowly goes to pieces, his anger, pain and frustration tearing him apart on the inside, as he is just sitting there quietly like a bomb ready to go off.

WHITE WHITE DAY has a story to tell and has some interesting characters to match. It is, however first, and foremost an Arthouse film that tries to experiment with cinematography, light and pacing. It also relies on the viewer's attention, but it is a long , slightly depressing movie and not everyone will last the distance. But if you do it is rather rewarding.

Some movies hide the fact that they have little to say beyond the artistic impressions. WHITE WHITE DAY is not such a film.

... that almost self extinguishes but is saved by the rage of a widower upon discovering the infidelity of his dead spouse. The lines between sanity, grief, madness and anger achingly filmed and pondering through the mistiness of recollection.

"For some reason, she was always enough for me."

Hvíter Hvíter Dager, Iceland's Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film this year, is a quiet, mature look at grief and memory. It is about a man who carries within him a love so pure, he struggles to understand anything else. It is about refusing to let go of the version of someone you want to hold onto forever.

The narrative slowly unravels like a novel as themes are explored through nuance and metaphor. The delicate dealing with love lost recalls Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine and Céline Sciamma's Portrait de La Jeune Fille en Feu, regarding the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The cinematography, shot in a noticeably textured 35mm, is peculiar in the way it involves the setting and keeps us a certain physical distance from the characters. I think Michael Haneke would be proud of this film.

The central character Ingimunder's relationship with his granddaughter Salka serves the film in predictable but endearing ways. Strong child acting is often taken for granted, but Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir's performance is far from typical. It is also a testament to both fine direction (Hlynur Palmason) and strong casting because the two leads are almost irreplaceable and truly contribute to make the film something special.

A White, White Day is enriched by its simplicity and singularity as it takes on heavy themes. The characters are real, the story is thoughtfully restrained, and the ending is remarkable. One of the more memorable films of the year.

The opening frames of Hlynur Palmason's movie "A White, White Day" conveys weather and landscape in a way very few movies have. It's clear seasons and time are passing in a dizzying, almost disorientating, fashion so when people finally appear, (an elderly man and his granddaughter), they feel as if they shouldn't be here and when we move indoors, it's like a alien place, particularly as there is a horse in the living room. And then it's back to more of the same, images of a landscape, but now with people occasionally appearing at a distance..

In part an intimate psychological study of its central character, Ingimundur, (a superb, award-winning performance from Ingvar Sigurdsson), and in part a study of the harsh environment in which he lives, Palmason's film is a visually stunning and often relentless 'thriller', dealing with the themes of grief, jealousy and revenge. It's also the kind of film that clearly belongs in the Northern Hemisphere where nature at its least forgiving determines both the landscape and the character of its inhabitants. You could say Ingimundur is the way he is becasue of his environment.

The plot evolves slowly yet inexorably with dialogue kept to a minimum. As a thriller it reminded me of the television series "True Detective" which certainly took its time and wasn't really concerned with resolving issues; the pace here is decidedly languorous and the film is open-ended. A huge hit on the festival circuit and the Icelandic entry for the Oscars, it should also prove very popular with art-house audiences.

Amazing Icelandic drama, with a great score and ambience, not recommended for those annoyed with slow-paced movies