The Deep [2012]

Directed by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur who’d made the engaging crime mystery film Jar City, The Deep is a human drama that seemed three films rolled into one, and consequently it didn’t have any underlying or coherent thematic base. The 1^st act was about camaraderie among sea-men, particularly in the context of preparing before an arduous venture; the 2^nd focused on the age-old theme of endurance and survival against an impossible adversity; and the final act, in an sharp change of the stance, dealt with sudden fame for the most unanticipated reasons imaginable. Based on real events, the film chronicled the aftermaths of the capsizing of a fishing trawler off the coast of Iceland’s volcanic Westman Islands. Despite the distance from the coast and the freezing temperatures that are sure to kill anyone in a matter of minutes through hypothermia, the chubby and soft-natured Gulli (Olafur Darri Olafsson), quite astonishingly, manages to reach the rocky coast and then walk to his town. With the grimness and sorrow surrounding the tragic event, he becomes, much to his perplexity and increasing discomfiture, famous for his miraculous escape, and earns attentions of a British researcher. The realism imbued into the proceedings, Olafsson’s empathetic turn – especially during the ordeal and the things he did to keep his mind off the situation, and the knowledge that what we’re seeing actually happened, made this an interesting watch. However, turning it into a medical documentary of sorts made the film end up neither here nor there, with hardly a point by the time it got over. Hence, restricting the 3^rd act to an afterthought would have been a more prudent choice.


p.s. Watched this as part of 2013 Kolkata International Film Festival (KFF)





Director: Baltasar Kormukar
Genre: Drama/Docu-Drama/Biopic
Language: Icelandic
Country: Iceland

Jar City (Myrin) [2006]

Jar City reminded me a lot about the Norwegian police procedural and psychological thriller Insomnia – both accentuated their psychological contents and excellently juxtaposed the inescapable human and societal violence against the starkly beautiful Nordic landscapes and its harsh weather. This grim, moody, intricately plotted and brilliantly paced Icelandic movie has as its centre Erlendur, a weary, jaded and chain-smoking police detective who, while investigating the brutal, messy and seemingly pointless homicide of an elderly man, stumbles upon some murky secrets including some that go as far back as three decades. The movie is presented through two different point of views – one being the meticulous procedural upon the afore-mentioned murder, with the other, shot through washed out blue filters to give a distinctive tonality to it, being on what led to the murder. Meanwhile, Erlendur’s troubled and drug-addict daughter finds it difficult to keep clean, thus adding a strong human element to his otherwise placid exterior. Thus, the personal lives of the protagonist as well that of the mysterious young man who might just be the perpetrator added emotional undertones to what could have otherwise become just another drab and convoluted exercise in crime solving. The film has a number of cleverly penned sequences and character dynamics that added layers of quiet power to the script. One of the most memorable aspects of this bleak, well-acted thriller, for me, were the stunning aerial shots used to capture the incredibly beautiful locales in and around Reykjavik, thus making this a visually arresting piece of work.






Director: Baltazar Kormakur
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Language: Icelandic
Country: Iceland