Jar City

I went to the premiere of Mýrin (Jar City) last night, the much awaited movie based on the novel by Arnaldur Indriðason. Having read the book, a lot of effort went into analyzing how it played out on the screen. And on that front, there are no complaints. I thought that the feeling of the novel shone throughout the film and the necessary plot changes were clever and executed perfectly.

A friend of mine who also went to the premiere, without first reading the novel, was also impressed and found it compelling and exciting.

The actors delivered their role nicely, especially Ingvar Örn Sigurðsson and the comedy relief Björn Hlynur Haraldsson. Gone is the annoying habit of acting as if you were on stage when on screen, that has troubled Icelandic filmmakers in the past.

The music is brilliant, both Mugison's theme music as well as the powerful opening and closing scenes with the Reykjavík Police Choir.

Having had high expectations for this film I'm very impressed. 9 out of 10. Keep up the good work, Baltasar Kormákur, there are many more novels by Arnaldur that would fit the silver screen.

Inspector Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) has to investigate a "messy and pointless" murder. A dirty old man has had his head bashed in in his flat. "Typical Icelandic", he thinks.

Iceland just touches the Arctic circle. It's a long way from anywhere else. It is grey and gritty, spectacular and melancholy, buffeted by blasts of wind, snow and steam. Against this background Erlendur doggedly untangles the connections and the crimes of the past, digging up corpses and secrets shameful or tragic. Landscape and society alike are revealed and commented on, drily and laconically.

Being based on a novel by Iceland's most successful crime writer, the characters are as well known to the home audience as Rebus, for instance, is in Britain, and carry enough of the baggage of real life to make them credible and sympathetic. There are visual themes of burials and exhumations, post-mortems, pathology labs and fast food, and a sound track of male voices shading into electronic moans and growls, which in turn dissolve into the wind. It's a very well-constructed package, which is thought provoking, gruesome, touching and funny, and it's certainly worth seeing.

Having read all of Arnaldur Indriðason's novels, I was very pleased when I heard that Baltasar Kormákur was planning to make this film. The press immediately started a sort of a Scarlett O'Hara search, in terms of finding an actor capable of portraying detective inspector Erlendur. When Ingvar Sigurðsson was finally chosen, I must admit that I wasn't that keen, as I felt that he was not at all the right type. Having seen the film now I must admit that I need not have worried. Ingvar Sigurðsson's portrayal of Erlendur is first class throughout, both the bitter and tender aspects of that complex character. All the cast is indeed great, most notable though Atli Rafn Sigurðsson as the grieving father, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir as Eva Lind, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir, as Erlendur's associates Sigurður Óli and Elínborg, and Theódór Júlíusson as the veteran hooligan Elliði. The cinematography is the best I've seen in any Icelandic film, the editing "par excellence", and the music extremely powerful. One has to give credit to the Reykjavik Police Choir, for the excellent singing. This is a film that everyone has to see, and I'm quite certain that it will scoop up quite a few awards at various film festivals. Keep on at it Baltasar. And hopefully you will bring other novels by Arnaldur Indriðason, such as Grafarþögn and Röddin to the silver screen.

This is an Icelandic movie about a murder, the only clue to which is a picture of a headstone of a five year old girl that died 30 years ago. In parallel to that, there is also a story of a genetic researcher whose four year old daughter has just died. How do these stories tie together? That is what makes the movie so intriguing. The story structure is such that the lead detective, Erlunder (played compellingly by Ingvar E. Sigurðsson), must investigate a crime from 30 years ago in order to solve the murder he's got on his hands now. Surprisingly, this is done with a bare minimum of flashbacks (I counted two), neither of which are to the original girl's death. The director, Baltasar Kormákur, sets a dreary tone using a muted color palette and wide shots of bleak terrain surrounding the city. The stark architecture only adds to this feeling of despair. A side story of Erlendur's relationship with his drug addicted daughter adds depth to the overall story by fleshing out the point of view character. This is by no means an amazing film, but it is very good. The supporting characters don't stand out much, but rather seem to be foils for Erlendur to play off of. This was apparently based on one of a series of crime novels and I'd be very interested to see adaptations of the others if the story quality is as consistent as this one.

Baltasar Kormákur was there to answer questions at the first screening of this excellent film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. He did a terrific job, both of directing the film and of untangling some of the details for us after the screening.

This was a film that we picked up at the last minute, to see on the first day of the festival. We went in with absolutely no expectations and were thrilled to find one of the best films of the festival laid out before us.

Everything about this film was outstanding: casting, sets and locations, acting, directing, and the subtitling was unobtrusive but effective. It has a wonderful black humour to it in spots, too. No wonder Iceland has chosen this film as its Oscar contender.

I know I'll see this film again! Not only that, but I've ordered all of the books in the series by Arnaldur Idridason that I could find in translation, because I found his story so compelling and want to read the further adventures of Detective Erlendur. I sincerely hope Kormákur directs more of them.