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Cold fever

Original title: Á köldum klaka
  • 1995
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
2K
YOUR RATING
Cold fever (1995)
Dark ComedyComedyDramaMystery

A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.

  • Director
    • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
  • Writers
    • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
    • Jim Stark
  • Stars
    • Masatoshi Nagase
    • Lili Taylor
    • Fisher Stevens
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
    • Writers
      • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
      • Jim Stark
    • Stars
      • Masatoshi Nagase
      • Lili Taylor
      • Fisher Stevens
    • 23User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Cold Fever
    Trailer 1:42
    Cold Fever

    Photos9

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    Top cast46

    Edit
    Masatoshi Nagase
    Masatoshi Nagase
    • Hirata
    Lili Taylor
    Lili Taylor
    • Jill
    Fisher Stevens
    Fisher Stevens
    • Jack
    Gísli Halldórsson
    • Siggi
    Laura Hughes
    • Laura
    Seijun Suzuki
    Seijun Suzuki
    • Hirata's Grandfather
    Hiromasa Shimada
    • Suzuki
    Masayuki Sasaki
    • Higashino
    Taizô Mizumura
    • Hirata's father
    Ichiko Takashi
    • Hirata's mother
    Taeko Kato
    • Girl in TV show
    Toshimori Iwaki
    • TV show commentator
    Ari Matthíasson
    • Bus guide
    Magnús Ólafsson
    • Taxi driver
    Rúrik Haraldsson
    • Grave digger
    Flosi Ólafsson
    • Hotel owner
    Bríet Héðinsdóttir
    • Woman at farm
    Katrín Ólafsdóttir
    • Psychic woman
    • Director
      • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
    • Writers
      • Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
      • Jim Stark
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews23

    7.01.9K
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    Featured reviews

    storybandit

    Excellent Questing Tale

    Cold Fever is one of those rare films where the hero is on a serious and deeply spiritual quest, yet the drama and the philosophy never overshadows the humor. Within the first 15 minutes of the film's depiction of Hirata's trip through Iceland, he is seen standing in the back of a (very large) truck, riding into Reykjavik with numerous other men - all of which are singing (beautifully) in deep baritone voices, the entire way home. One of the men on the truck turns to Hirata and says:

    "How do you like Iceland?"

    "Very strange country." Hirata replies, and the actor's expression and tone of voice made it a perfect bit of foreshadowing for everything that lies ahead.

    This is a story about a man's journey across Iceland to fulfill a family obligation. His parents drowned in a mountain river, and Hirata must go there to free their spirits from the place. However, while the weight of family obligation is what gets him started, and is the goal that keeps him going - the journey, with it's many colorful characters and strange adventures (many of which seem to be born of either luck or a very powerful spiritual guardian seeing this man to his final destination) are what affect and change the man who is on this journey. Yet, despite it's fantastical quality, the film never seems to loose it's suspension of disbelief. In other words, I found myself in awe of the adventure without becoming annoyed by the impossibility of it.

    My only complaint would be the number of times Hirata decides to just walk away from a cab or a broken down car. 90% of the movie is filmed in Iceland, in the middle of winter, and the reality of walking around in a business suit (with a suitcase, briefcase, and poor walking shoes) wasn't (in my opinion) properly displayed. Anyone who has experienced sheer white snow-blind cold depicted in this movie would be tapping their fingers, wondering why this man isn't dead from exposure.

    However, I must stress that my single complain is actually a minor one, because it actually enhances the mystical and magical quality of this film. Like I said, Hirata's comment ("Very strange country") is a wonderful bit of foreshadowing.

    Highly recommended.
    9scf-8

    Points to the intertextuality of Icelandic and Japanese film elements

    I saw Cold Fever when it was first released in the U.S. and have been (unsuccessfully so far) looking for it for about 5 years to see it again.

    Some of the other comments have pointed to the way the Japanese and Icelandic elements--of folklore and spirituality, principally--weave together. I have always thought it was a beautiful homage to Kurosawa and perhaps other Japanese filmmakers, not just in the plot (which others have correctly seen as a "road movie") but in the whole pacing and look of the film--the colors, the composition of scenes, the attention to the characters. It's really too bad more people haven't seen it.

    Hirata's enlightenment through his contacts with other characters who may be real, delusional (he is, in fact, fevered), or actual ghosts or spirits is compelling and thought-provoking for the viewer, who must also question what is "real," as well as what it means.
    lowkeylysmythe

    Much more than a tourist advertisement

    This film is indeed a beautiful film showing Iceland's many attractions as the previous reviewer mentioned, but it also draws very interesting parallels between the native beliefs of Icelanders, which in fact are quite similar to what prevailed across Europe before Christianity came(Iceland was settled by Vikings and was among the last places Europeans held to their pagan religion), and the Shinto practices in Japan. One accompanies the main character, a shallow, immature corporate executive from his comfortable Tokyo life to Iceland: where layer by layer he is stripped of comfort, certainty, even rationality, until he is brought to a place where he realizes a simple and profound humanity.

    This film is funny, the cinematography is amazing, and it is spiritually enriching. How many films can you say all that about?
    10robert-642

    Teny Years On - The Film Still Works

    Ten years later this very compact film still works its magic. Much has been said by many of the other contributors with one exception. It is not a film to be rushed. Rather you need to view at the speed the film dictates - not unlike "Paris, Texas. Like the swirling mists and snow it slowly envelops you. No frame is wasted. Even a casual remark in the aeroplane en-route to Iceland gives a link for the future.

    Many different cultures have their cultural layers peeled back; American, Japanese, Icelandic and Norse mythology. It's up to the viewer to see what he or she sees.

    I think the most telling scene in the film is the Icelander who befriends Hirata. Although he does not want to accompany Hirata to the ritual grave scene because of a 'spirit dream', he nonetheless is there to show him the way home. In so doing, he witnesses a universal value with Hirate - the passing of life.

    There's much to be said for good small budget films. The story and direction have to be tightly constrained.
    7Mort-31

    Let's go to Iceland!

    This film is evidently a long commercial to lure tourists to Iceland. It contains all the famous national specialities of the country, and of course the beautiful landscape is presented in a particularly beautiful manner. Just like Ein Schloss am Wörthersee is advertising Carinthia – only much more charming!

    I find the idea to use as a `hero' a Japanese who comes to Iceland unwillingly quite original (a friend of mine said she had never seen such an ornery Japanese before). The weird characters he meets on his way to the probably remotest and most unpleasant place in the world help to construct some kind of plot, and the movie is a pleasure to watch – throughout.

    I am going to visit Iceland next week, and after watching Cold Fever I am particularly looking forward to it. And that's the result Jim Stark and Friðrik Friðriksson were out for, isn't it?

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    Related interests

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sian Clifford in Fleabag (2016)
    Dark Comedy
    Will Ferrell in Présentateur vedette: La légende de Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Hirata: What are you doing in this crazy country?

    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: Scandinavie, Stig Björkman (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Blue Intro
      Written by Thorhallor Skullason (as Þ. Skúlason) and S. Þorgrìmsson

      Performed by Ajax

      Courtesy of Smekkleysa s.m.h.f.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 15, 1998 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Japan
      • Iceland
      • Denmark
      • Germany
    • Languages
      • English
      • Icelandic
      • Japanese
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Cold Fever
    • Filming locations
      • Iceland
    • Production companies
      • Icicle
      • Altar Productions
      • Film Fonds
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • ISK 130,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 23m(83 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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