Vonarstræti

Vonarstræti is a great film.

It tells the stories of ordinary people in Iceland during the - I think - buildup of the country's financial crisis in 2008.

Many things separate Vonarstræti from similar films; but above all is perhaps Baldvin Zophoníasson's ability to avoid revealing too much; he never underestimates his audience.

And the stories are simple. The storytelling is simple. The dialogue is real, the performances heartfelt. Hera Hilmar is particularly great, so is the dynamic between her character Eik and Móri, the plagued, yet peaking writer.

Adding to this is the fact that nothing we see on screen is unnecessary to the development of the story. The story is also constantly developing in its own way.

The cinematography is simple and "just there". Nothing fancy here - just like the stories. This simplicity is not just great for realism, it is almost a prerequisite.

On the other hand, it can be argued that the film has its flaws. They include over dramatization of certain scenes, and a potentially bad plot choice (potentially because it's subjective - you be the judge). But even this never goes overboard.

Vonarstræti is overall a great piece of Icelandic social realism. One star deducted for minor flaws, considering that the 10/10 should be reserved for very special cases.

9/10

Saw this at Noordelijk film festival 2015 in Leeuwarden (NL). Long winded way of storytelling, without enough substance and devoid of interesting protagonists, taking more than two hours running time. Starting as independent parallel plot lines, we see gradually more and more of the main character's lives intertwined, but it takes time to get hold of the big picture. Alas, it is all interesting enough to make an effort to piece it together.

The superficial viewer should look past the embedded morale that men always get away with their wrongdoings and that women always suffer. There is one instance (only one!) where we see hard work and honesty rewarded (the fresh banker) while his colleague (always talking about team playing) changes his report (luckily, the boss found out). Nearly at the same time he threatens the school teacher not to reveal anything about their encounter in "Florida", he also tells his wife that nothing happened and that she has to trust him. So his morale is dubious at least, though it may be due to panic. The other instance of rewarding good behavior is when the writer/poet who accidentally winds up as a rich man, shares some of his wealth with the part time call girl, but we have to overlook that his way of babysitting is irresponsible because of his drinking habits.

All in all, no saints and no angels in this movie, only real people with all kinds of faults combined with good features. Yet, none of these are unusual or worth devoting a movie about it, so I get stuck with a feeling of disappointment after sitting out more than two hours. It was not boring, just useless and unrewarding. Technically nothing wrong, well shot, and casting/acting was believable. Apparently I'm at fault, as nearly 1000 IMDb users awarded a 7.5 score on average.

Icelandic writer-director Baldvin Zophoníasson's 2nd feature film is dark but great. The screenplay, co-written with psychologist Birgir Örn Steinarsson, is strong and nuanced. The acting from Hilmar, Bachmann and Kristjansson is solid.

The longer time of the film justifies the story of survival, friendship and sacrifice of the protagonists. It is not an ordinary movie therefore a few criticizing people find it boring. The love between a young woman and a man with age difference is depicted in natural realistic manner.

This movie is dismal and cold as an Icelandic winter and overloaded with just about as many 'topical' social ills as could be formatted into a movie. We are treated to yet another convoluted style (now trendy) of telling a simple story - this time about a bunch of disenfranchised social misfits with whom we are expected to sympathize. One of these is a very young unmarried mother (shockingly abused by her grandfather) who now supports herself and her young child by working at a day care centre. She then prostitutes herself by night to an assortment of grotesque clientele - these tend to be made up of macho sportsmen who have sex with blow-up dolls, married so-called 'family' men, or older misfits (a somewhat odd lifestyle choice for one wanting to escape an abused past). Next is a writer, who through the tragedy of a bad marriage has become a cheap drunk who roams the streets getting brutally beat up and robbed by local criminal types.

Then there's a group of young hotshot bankers bent on making it to the top (by any means) who do big time 'party' drugs and cheat on their devoted, 'dearly loved' wives. If you can't wait to follow the exploits of this bunch you may be right for this never ending slog - it clocks in at nearly 2.1/2 debilitating hrs. The images are often as murky as the midnight sun and are presented in the lower cost medium of hand-held cameras.

Having been entered in festivals as a contender for best Icelandic film - it suggests there may not have been much else around that year. Not a particularly desirable look for Icelandic Films. Might have been much more interesting if story elements weren't so unrelentingly downbeat and sordid.

While overall performances are quite convincing, the story generally fits with what you might expect to find on the trash-fest World Movies channel.