101 Reykjavik

Baltasar Kormakur, Iceland, 2000, 100 minutes

Hlynur is the ultimate slacker... he sleeps all day, drinks all night and fails to maintain any kind of sensible relationship with members of the opposite sex - except for his mother whose home he still lives in. Life is pretty simple in a depressing and dull sort of a way until Hlynur sleeps with a beautiful Spanish houseguest (the wonderful and very sexy Victoria Abril) who it then transpires is his mother's lesbian lover...

This is a wonderful black comedy with Hlynur the ultimate nerdy mother's boy without a clue how to grow up since he's never needed to until his life suddenly starts to change around him. The construction of the relationship between him and his mother is particularly realistic and touching (as well as funny), a highpoint of which is a wonderful scene where she slowly and unsurely comes out to her incredibly distracted son.

Giving a marvellously judged performance as Hlynur is Hilmir Snaer Gudnason who gets just the right blend of hopelessness, uselessness and self pity required and, though fairly unlikable to begin with, he grows more sympathetic. That much of his geekiness and depressive personality is retained throughout this process is a credit to the quality of the acting and writing here. As the exotic love interest Victoria Abril is her usual stunning and intelligent self making her attraction to both Hlynur and his mother totally credible. Meanwhile Hanna Maria Karlsdottir as Hlynur's mother is an appropriately important but low-key figure and her own vulnerability and increasing confidence are both subtly evident in the background of Hlynur's world.

Outside of the central plot, Hlynur's friends (classic disaffected youth including a cameo by the director looking rather less handsome than normal) and the wonderfully awful family reunion scenes are very funny, as are his challenging appointments with the government unemployment people. Add stark shots of the city, a dramatic Icelandic landscape and a capable score from Blur's Damon Albarn (who happens to co-own a bar - "Kaffibarrin" for all you trivia fans - in Iceland's capital city with the film's director) and it is easy to see why this film earned considerable critical acclaim when released last year.

This is Baltasar Kormakur's film-directing debut but he's clearly at ease with the role after years as a high profile theatre actor/director. Although he's acted in Icelandic films since this was made hopefully he'll be lured back to the director's chair soon to build on the skills that shine throughout "101 Reykjavik". The film stands with Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich" and Sam Mendes' "American Beauty" as one of the most formidable and impressively different celluloid calling cards in recent years.

One of the best films I've seen in months - it will leave you smiling to yourself all day!

Review by Nicola Osborne
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2002