Sveitabrúðkaup

7/10

This film is more about how the acting came together than the story. That is from how I interpret what the director and cast explained during the post TIFF08 Q&A. Provided you have never seen any Nordic/Scandanavian films before this could be refreshing. But if you have seen others, it could still be interesting but it's hard not to compare.

The story is basically a road movie cross a private cozy wedding day bonanza. There are extreme close ups (chest and up) with hand held cameras, somewhat grainy stock, so if you have an issue with that it could be a problem.

The dialogue ranges from casually realistic to dramatically revealing. The story unfolds as the tension and that well foreshadowing the snow ball ending - a bit more climatic for my taste but logical.

There are loads of characters and they contrast well with each other. And since this is a comedy some characters are extended a bit more than normal. However, well improvised (in certain respects) and well conceived considering shot in 7 days.

The Q&A indicated the cast rehearsed on the history of the characters, but acted on the instance of each scene. Each had to make up an secret for the character and have to decide whether to review the secret during the shoot. While this kind of sounds intriguing it is nothing new and might be too much secret culuminating for one film ? Then again we all have secrets don't we ?

Inga (Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir ) and Barði (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) decide to get married in a church in the countryside. They hire one bus for each family and guests and a band to play in the party. Inga travels with her parents and brother; her best friend Lára (Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir) that brings her senile grandmother and her flirt Egill (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson); and her mother's mate Svanur (Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson) that has also a secret affair with Lára. Barði travels with his parents and sister Auður (Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir); the gay cousin of his father and his mate; and his friends Síði (Erlendur Eiríksson) that Inga Hates and Grjóni (Gísli Örn Garðarsson) that arrives later. They get lost and while seeking the church, the tension increases and secrets are disclosed in the dysfunctional families and friends in the great day of Inga and Barði.

"Sveitabrúðkaup" a.k.a. "Country Wedding" is a witty and acid road movie. The screenplay and the director succeed in developing a great number of characters along 99 minutes running time. The acting is top- notch and I was surprised with many similarities in the behavior of Icelanders and Brazilians. The humor is dramatic and of high-level, and the priest is hilarious. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Grande Dia" ("The Great Day")