Mudando o Destino

I liked Málmhaus as a drama a lot, only the resolution, the ending was a little too much suger-candy for me. I know, I know, sometimes a positive message is not a bad one, but after the really well made story and well performing cast, I would have liked a more twisted or more "serious" ending, or maybe an idea that was not that obvious. Anyway, still good.

I saw bunch of "metal" movies. Usually they are documentary about specific bands or metal culture overall, B-production horrors, comedies or horror-comedies, but this is the very first time I ran into drama. This Icelandic movie brings painful story about girl whose metal-head brother died when she was twelve. Trying to deal with her pain she turns to his music, loses faith in God and finally, under influence of burning churches in Norway in early 90's, she turns to black metal. Story about loss, thoughtlessness, unconformity and rebellion, growing up and finding one true self. Slow, heavy and realistic movie that stands out from the mass of template teenage drama to which we are accustomed. It's not masterpiece, but it is worth your time and I warmly recommend it.

8/10

It may seem that this film is about music or about a musical style, but it really speaks about what is that people thinks about us and what they think we should be or they want us to be, about what we want to be and about who we really are. Talk about the most important thing in life, which is one's own identity and our happiness. Very powerful message. It is an excellent film.

Metalhead (Málmhaus)is hard rocking. Superbly artistic and powerful. A strange but potent blend of Icelandic nature, divine acting and deep message. Melodramatic joy where death and hope are woven into a web under heavy tones of metal. The stage is a farm in Iceland where a teenage girl transforms into a heavy metal performer and songwriter, exercising in the cowshed with the cows as her audience but maybe not the biggest fans. Love and death is not far away and gives the film a classic undertone where basic themes of human nature are explored. The strong theme in the movie is the endless question about faith and religion when you are faced with the sudden death of your family or friends, the question where almighty god is when young people die. The film has many references to classic literature and the history of the movie. A film that you want to see again and again. I would not be surprised that this will develop into a classic cult movie. The director and actors deliver a fantastic tale.

In Iceland, Karl (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson), his wife Droplaug (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir), his son Baldur (Óskar Logi Ágústsson) and his daughter Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) form a simple family of farmers that works in their farm. When Baldur has an accident and dies, the family is deeply affected and the twelve year-old Hera becomes a rebel and fan of hard rock. Along the years, they grieve the loss of Baldur and the confused Hera composes songs of death rock and gets into successive troubles in their friendly community.

"Málmhaus", a.k.a. "Metalhead", is an original Icelandic drama, with the story of a troubled teenager that becomes a fan of hard rock. The screenplay is absolutely unique and never uses clichés. Hera is a messy character troubled by the loss of her beloved brother. She gets into the most unusual situations that are resolved by her parents, neighbors and members of their communities that understand the meaning of the loss of Karl to the family, especially to the young girl. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mudando o Destino" ("Changing the Destiny")