Director: Hlynur Pálmason

Stars: Saga Garðarsdóttir, Sverrir Guðnason, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Þorgils Hlynsson, Grímur Hlynsson

‘Godland’ director Hlynur Pálmason narrows his canvas for this bittersweet, occasionally surreal, drama charting the twelve-month period of fallout on a family after the mother and father separate. It begins with the apposite visual metaphor of a building having its roof removed and then being demolished by a crane. This, it is revealed, was the art studio of mother, Anna (Gardarsdottir). Her response to the loss is to take advantage of the Icelandic elements, memorably captured by the director, also serving as cinematographer, and leaving her huge metal sculptures outside to be corroded and moulded. Since her and her husband Magnus’s separation, Anna is struggling to bring up her three spirited children: teenage girl Ida, and preteen boys Grimur and Porgils (the siblings are all played by the director’s children and share their characters’ first names). Meanwhile father Magnus (Guðnason), a fisherman, is clearly struggling with the separation, evidenced by the tetchiness he displays with his shipmates when they ask him any personal questions. When Magnus drops by the family home, which is frequently, he is irked that his children pay more attention to his wife’s commands than his. Although Anna is wary of him and determined to forge on with the current arrangement, there is a still a palpable affection and attraction between the couple with Anna occasionally letting Magnus stay over. Following the epic sweep of ‘Godland’ this is a film of intimate telling moments with the actors exhibiting a convincingly lived-in intimacy. Less effective are the surreal moments scattered throughout to underline the characters’ inner conditions, such as when a family scarecrow done up in a suit of armour, comes to life; and most bizarrely, when Magnus is haunted by a giant rooster.

David Willoughby

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