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overcome any prejudice or disinterest you may have for Icelandic film. This is a BRILLIANT film about a young man in a tiny town in Iceland who is experiencing much more than the traditional adolescent alienation.
As in all character driven films, casting, acting, dialogue, direction, editing... all must "click" as in a fine chamber music piece or it all collapses into cacophony.
"Noi" soars.
The lead is a young actor that doesn't resort to cliché mannerisms nor does his character display stupendously ridiculous and unbelievable traits. His grandmother, father, even his teacher and principal, are novel characters you've not seen before and who fully are fleshed out without the gimmickry of having them have ticks, evil natures, or absurd faults.
The difference between this film and just about all other "young adult" films is this one isn't one-dimensional. Adolescents aren't seen as some sort of different species but rather as human beings with individual problems, just as unique as those of the adults around them.
Years ago, there was an excellent Scandinavian film about a young boy titled, "A Dog's Life."
This film is at least its equal.
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!!!
Now, in case you wish to see another superb film from Iceland, and I mean superb, do yourself a favor and rent or buy Fredrik Thor Fredriksson's "Cold Fever."
Film doesn't get much better than this.
Follow Ups:
It's a nice snapshot of life in another culture showing what happens to a really smart guy brought up in a dead end socialist world.What was fun was him doing his tricks to pass the sobriety test. Now, that is news you can use.
Sure, one could see this film only as a coming-of-age film with some hilarious scenes. But it is so much more.
Remember the opening scene? Now, recall the ending.
How about the walkie-talkie scene in the graveyard? Remember what Kierkegaard means? How about the quotes the man read from him? And... did you perhaps think Noi may have been a Messianic figure, with the priest talking to him in non-specific ways (the directional confusion with "east")? You do recall Noi rising from the "dead," from his "sepulchre?"
The director says he left much ambiguous, purposefully, yet that doesn't mean he didn't craft meaning.
Even if one views it at face value, the character of Noi is an unforgettable one and takes his place in film history.
Though it doesn't mean I'll like a film, it is hard to discount the many, many top prizes this won upon release in 2003.
The music, composed by the director, is beautiful.
Ferris Bueller? Trash.
Rushmore? Same.
This is a gem that doesn't need Hollywood or Indie-type overreacting, overacting, over-writing, or any exaggeration.
It is a small work, as most of those of Vermeer were, but it similarly is perfect.
A Dogs Life is a Chaplin film title
Can't recall the title but there's a Scandinavian film where a couple of teenage girls decide to run away from home to the Big City (Stockholm?) that's also really well doneGrins
the theme and synopsis sound like an immediate and total loss; teenage girls in a boarding school find true love ( yeah, right )
To make matters worse, its with each other....
It's a wonderful Scandinavian film that completely transcends its themeThey're really good at this coming-of-age stuff...
Grins
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