Title: Reyndu Aftur (Try Again)
Committing suicide isn’t as easy as one may think. Hannes knows it well. Just as he is trying to put an end to his life, a series of incidents occurs and he finds himself locked outside his apartment in his underwear. His search for a spare key will prove a difficult quest. His original intentions and his outlook on life are changed by encounters with a few of the other tenants.
Director: Sverrir Kristjánsson Year: 2009 Runtime: 16 minutes Language: Icelandic Genre: Comedy
On the spot comment: the dude in underwear didn’t seem so eager to die, did he? The other tenants were quite annoying though, so one can sympathize.
Title: Knowledgy
A parody of cults like Scientology and their absurdities. Michael, a transfer student, is involved in documenting the conversion of his lodger and his wife-to-be. A shady guru and his assistant fly all the way from the US to celebrate the ceremony. What appears to be to Michael a weird but innocent fixation is destined to have gory consequences.
Director: Hrefna Hagalín & Kristín Bára Haraldsdóttir Year: 2010 Runtime: 18 minutes Language: English, Icelandic Genre: Comedy
On the spot comment: [spoiler alert!] the only two followers of Knowledgy in Iceland are dead. We are once again in a respectable country.
Title: Breki
Based on a true story, deals with the tragic death at sea of fisherman Kalli Bigga Jó in the 90’s. Shot by his son Haraldur’s teacher, director Hilmar Oddsson, from the point of view of the son: how did Haraldur experience the father’s death and what it meant to him and how did it affect his life?
Director: Hilmar Oddsson Year: 2010 Runtime: 12 minutes Language: Icelandic Genre: Drama
On the spot comment: is there really anybody still using shaky and blurry camera for dreams and memories? To render the cliche more accurately the they should have used black and white or vintage tones as well. I mean… c’mon.
Title: Pleisið (The Place)
After a party he attends to forget about his broken heart, Axel is involved in disorderly acts and gets caught by the police. He is sent to juvenile prison for a crime he didn’t commit. There he has to face all kind of abuse, both from other young delinquents and from the prison’s authorities.
Director: Jakob Halldórsson Year: 2010 Runtime: 22 minutes Language: Icelandic Genre: Drama
On the spot comment: young Icelandic thugs vs the law: I hope they never get to see what it’s like in the UK. By the way, why is everybody using that whatiscalled font for features with horrifically violent connotations?
Title: Heart to Heart
A nameless man and a mysterious woman in a surreal environment. Symbols and situations bring them together. A love story?
Director: Vera Sölvadóttir Year: 2010 Runtime: 5 minutes Language: N/A Genre: N/A
On the spot comment: is it hygienic to swallow somebody else’s heart? Hmm… I don’t think so.
None of the short features was particularly brilliant from any point of view. More than short features by upcoming filmmakers, the shorts had the quality of assignments diligently executed by cinema students – also the Hilmar Oddsson’s short. None of the works showed a spark of originality and they all resulted in being plainly uninteresting. Icelandic cinema students should take in to account the notion that being able to film and to script a short doesn’t actually make you a filmmaker.