Seasoned actor Tinna Hrafnsdóttir has joined Icelandic counterparts Aníta Briem and Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, successful female actors who have made with panache the leap to screenwriting, sharing the distinction of a nomination for best screenplay of a Nordic drama series.
Flying Iceland’s flag at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, to be handed out Jan. 30 at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision, Hrafnsdóttir is competing with her six-part family drama “Descendants,” co-written by Ottó Geir Borg (“The Valhalla Murders”) and Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson (“Wild Game”).
The TV show is her first experience as a long-form scripted director, following her feature film debut “Quake” which screened at multiple festivals and was acquired by Juno Films for North America and the UK.
The compelling story of sibling rivalry, loyalty and greed is set against the backdrop of Iceland’s booming tourist industry. We follow three siblings who end up at each other’s throats,...
Flying Iceland’s flag at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, to be handed out Jan. 30 at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision, Hrafnsdóttir is competing with her six-part family drama “Descendants,” co-written by Ottó Geir Borg (“The Valhalla Murders”) and Tyrfingur Tyrfingsson (“Wild Game”).
The TV show is her first experience as a long-form scripted director, following her feature film debut “Quake” which screened at multiple festivals and was acquired by Juno Films for North America and the UK.
The compelling story of sibling rivalry, loyalty and greed is set against the backdrop of Iceland’s booming tourist industry. We follow three siblings who end up at each other’s throats,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Elvis lives. And he's tooling around a slum in Reykjavik in the form of a black-leather-jacketed Icelander who is jazzed on the American Dream of rock 'n' roll and big cars.
Playing at the Chicago International Film Festival, "Devil's Island" is a rambunctiously edgy entertainment that is scoped, in the inimitable Scandinavian style, through a lens darkly.
A scrappy glimpse at the underside of Icelandic society, "Devil's Island" is another example of an emerging Scandinavian cinema, one not mired in cranking out filmic adaptations of Strindberg or Ibsen dramas nor dominated by the stultifying shadow of Ingmar Bergman and the serioso cinetastes of government film boards. Like Norway's wondrously spry and spunky "Junk Mail", this modest movie is a bracing blend of drama and comedy.
For those who only know Reykjavik as an SAS stop-over on a European budget tour, the capital of Iceland is also the former home of one of the United States' most strategic Air Force bases, Thule. The facility has been abandoned in the post-Cold War era, but when the Air Force left, it left behind not only visions of American culture, but in this case, the barracks and Quonset huts of the base itself. The cylindrical metal structures give shelter to Iceland's poor, forming a housing project for the destitute in the city's outskirts.
In Einar Karason's canny screenplay, the American Dream is cross-connected with the downsliding lives of various inhabitants of this sorry social aggregation. The story revolves around a rollicksome chap aptly named Baddi (Baltasar Kormakur) who has spent his teen years in the good old U.S. and grooved on all the cultural goodies: rock music, Hollywood movies and the pantheon of American entertainers, especially Elvis and James Dean.
Returning to his ne'er-do-well clan in Reykjavik -- his grandmother is a fortuneteller -- Baddi assumes the role of American star. He's a wannabe James Dean, the local hero-of-the-moment for a community in dire need of uplift and diversion.
Invigorated with crusty comedy and riveted with the painful limitations under which these characters face their lives, "Devil's Island" is a terrific human story. Highest praise goes to screenwriter Karason for the robust writing and to director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson for the spry visualization that succinctly conveys the muddy nature of these people's lives.
The cast is well-selected, with special praise to Kormakur for his jaunty portrayal of the Elvis aspirant. Sveinn Geirsson is also a standout as Baddi's more serious brother.
Technically, the film is first-rate. Special praise to editors Steingrimur Karlsson and Skule Eriksen for its vigorous pace and to cinematographer Ari Kristinsson for its aptly murky cinematography.
DEVIL'S ISLAND
Icelandic Film Corp., Peter Rommel Filmproduction, Filmhuset, Zentropa Entertainment
Credits: Producers: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Peter Rommel, Egil Odegaard, Peter Aalbaek Jensen; Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson; Screenwriter: Einar Karason; Line producer-director of photography: Ari Kristinsson; Production designer: Arni Pali Johannsson; Editors: Steingrimur Karlsson, Skule Eriksen; Sound designer: Kjartan Kjartansson; Costume designer: Karlk Aspelund; Music: Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson; Music supervisor: Bjorgvin Halldorsson. Cast: Baddi: Baltasar Kormakur; Tomas: Gisl Halldorsson; Karolina: Sigurveig Jonsdottir; Dolly: Halldora Geirhardsdottier; Danni: Sveinn Geirsson; Grettir: Gudmundur Olafsson: Color/stereo; Running time: 103 minutes...
Playing at the Chicago International Film Festival, "Devil's Island" is a rambunctiously edgy entertainment that is scoped, in the inimitable Scandinavian style, through a lens darkly.
A scrappy glimpse at the underside of Icelandic society, "Devil's Island" is another example of an emerging Scandinavian cinema, one not mired in cranking out filmic adaptations of Strindberg or Ibsen dramas nor dominated by the stultifying shadow of Ingmar Bergman and the serioso cinetastes of government film boards. Like Norway's wondrously spry and spunky "Junk Mail", this modest movie is a bracing blend of drama and comedy.
For those who only know Reykjavik as an SAS stop-over on a European budget tour, the capital of Iceland is also the former home of one of the United States' most strategic Air Force bases, Thule. The facility has been abandoned in the post-Cold War era, but when the Air Force left, it left behind not only visions of American culture, but in this case, the barracks and Quonset huts of the base itself. The cylindrical metal structures give shelter to Iceland's poor, forming a housing project for the destitute in the city's outskirts.
In Einar Karason's canny screenplay, the American Dream is cross-connected with the downsliding lives of various inhabitants of this sorry social aggregation. The story revolves around a rollicksome chap aptly named Baddi (Baltasar Kormakur) who has spent his teen years in the good old U.S. and grooved on all the cultural goodies: rock music, Hollywood movies and the pantheon of American entertainers, especially Elvis and James Dean.
Returning to his ne'er-do-well clan in Reykjavik -- his grandmother is a fortuneteller -- Baddi assumes the role of American star. He's a wannabe James Dean, the local hero-of-the-moment for a community in dire need of uplift and diversion.
Invigorated with crusty comedy and riveted with the painful limitations under which these characters face their lives, "Devil's Island" is a terrific human story. Highest praise goes to screenwriter Karason for the robust writing and to director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson for the spry visualization that succinctly conveys the muddy nature of these people's lives.
The cast is well-selected, with special praise to Kormakur for his jaunty portrayal of the Elvis aspirant. Sveinn Geirsson is also a standout as Baddi's more serious brother.
Technically, the film is first-rate. Special praise to editors Steingrimur Karlsson and Skule Eriksen for its vigorous pace and to cinematographer Ari Kristinsson for its aptly murky cinematography.
DEVIL'S ISLAND
Icelandic Film Corp., Peter Rommel Filmproduction, Filmhuset, Zentropa Entertainment
Credits: Producers: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Peter Rommel, Egil Odegaard, Peter Aalbaek Jensen; Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson; Screenwriter: Einar Karason; Line producer-director of photography: Ari Kristinsson; Production designer: Arni Pali Johannsson; Editors: Steingrimur Karlsson, Skule Eriksen; Sound designer: Kjartan Kjartansson; Costume designer: Karlk Aspelund; Music: Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson; Music supervisor: Bjorgvin Halldorsson. Cast: Baddi: Baltasar Kormakur; Tomas: Gisl Halldorsson; Karolina: Sigurveig Jonsdottir; Dolly: Halldora Geirhardsdottier; Danni: Sveinn Geirsson; Grettir: Gudmundur Olafsson: Color/stereo; Running time: 103 minutes...
- 10/21/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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