Sigurður Sigurjónsson

Film Review: UNDER THE TREE (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany 2017) ***1/2

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review , , , , , ,

 Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

Under the Tree Poster
Clip

When Baldwin and Inga’s next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

Director:

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson

Writers:

Huldar Breiðfjörð (story and screenplay), Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson

 

UNDER THE TREE is a simple story that unfolds in all its unpredictability and horror.  It is trouble for two neighbours, something that many can relate to.  The shade from a front yard tree brings tensions to a boil for two families in an Icelandic suburb.  The husbands Baldvin (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) and Konrad (Þorsteinn Bachmann) have a small argument over trimming the big tree as Konrad’s wife, Eybjorg (Selma Björnsdóttir) likes to lie in the sun and does not want the shade from the tree.  But the wives argue.  The tires of  a car are slashed followed by rude gnomes ornaments placed in the front of the house.  Then when the cat goes missing, all hell breaks lose.  

Amidst the arguing, there is a subplot of the son, Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson) losing custody of his daughter after cheating on his wife., Agnes (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir).   

Director Sigurdsson knows how to up the angst, as evident at the film’s start, the wife catches the son watching porn.  “Is that you in the porn?”  she suddenly notices.  “Isn’t that Rakel in it with you in the porn?”  she asks again before kicking him out of the house and taking custody of their daughter.  Again this is an incident that many separated couple go through, fighting for custody.   Sigurdsson also keeps certain factors unknown to keep the audience guessing.  Did the neighbour really slash the tires?  Did the neighbour really put in the gnomes?  And where is that darn cat that has disappeared, though the final incident is revealed at the end of the film.

Sigurdsson keeps his film engaging from start to end by making his characters real, reacting and doing things that normal people all over the world might end up doing, when pushed to the limit.  

Of all the characters, Inga (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) seems the nastiest.  She seems to be director Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s favourite. Inga slings dog shit at Eybjorg, calls her a cow and even calls her son a loser when he cheats on his wife.  The wives inch their husbands, who seem more tolerant, on.

Besides the black comedy, the film also contains segments of dramatic tension, like in the ones where Atli abducts his daughter or when he abuses her at her workplace.

The film is shot in the suburbs of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.  These houses are modern looking, colourful, modest and too close to each other for comfort.   Trees and sun are scarce in Iceland so one can understand a neighbour not wanting the shade and the other not wanting his tree touched.

Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s film demonstrates the worst there is in human beings, creating a dark comedy at its blackest. His characters are unforgiving (Agnes cannot forgive Atli for cheating), vindictive (Agnes calls her cheating husband out as a masturbator of sex videos he indulges in, at a community meeting) and cowardly.

The ending comes with a good twist that leaves audiences satisfied that they have seen a really black comedy/drama.  The film dominated the Edda Awards (Icelandic equivalent of the Oscars) with seven wins, including best film, director, actor (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson), actress (Edda Björgvinsdóttir), supporting actor (Sigurður Sigurjónsson), screenplay and visual effects.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7KeDwJCAc

 

 Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

Film Review: UNDER THE TREE (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany 2017) ***1/2

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

 Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

Clip

When Baldwin and Inga’s next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

Director:

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson

Writers:

Huldar Breiðfjörð (story and screenplay), Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson

 

UNDER THE TREE is a simple story that unfolds in all its unpredictability and horror.  It is trouble for two neighbours, something that many can relate to.  The shade from a front yard tree brings tensions to a boil for two families in an Icelandic suburb.  The husbands Baldvin (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) and Konrad (Þorsteinn Bachmann) have a small argument over trimming the big tree as Konrad’s wife, Eybjorg (Selma Björnsdóttir) likes to lie in the sun and does not want the shade from the tree.  But the wives argue.  The tires of  a car are slashed followed by rude gnomes ornaments placed in the front of the house.  Then when the cat goes missing, all hell breaks lose.  

Amidst the arguing, there is a subplot of the son, Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson) losing custody of his daughter after cheating on his wife., Agnes (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir).   

Director Sigurdsson knows how to up the angst, as evident at the film’s start, the wife catches the son watching porn.  “Is that you in the porn?”  she suddenly notices.  “Isn’t that Rakel in it with you in the porn?”  she asks again before kicking him out of the house and taking custody of their daughter.  Again this is an incident that many separated couple go through, fighting for custody.   Sigurdsson also keeps certain factors unknown to keep the audience guessing.  Did the neighbour really slash the tires?  Did the neighbour really put in the gnomes?  And where is that darn cat that has disappeared, though the final incident is revealed at the end of the film.

Sigurdsson keeps his film engaging from start to end by making his characters real, reacting and doing things that normal people all over the world might end up doing, when pushed to the limit.  

Of all the characters, Inga (Edda Björgvinsdóttir) seems the nastiest.  She seems to be director Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s favourite. Inga slings dog shit at Eybjorg, calls her a cow and even calls her son a loser when he cheats on his wife.  The wives inch their husbands, who seem more tolerant, on.

Besides the black comedy, the film also contains segments of dramatic tension, like in the ones where Atli abducts his daughter or when he abuses her at her workplace.

The film is shot in the suburbs of the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.  These houses are modern looking, colourful, modest and too close to each other for comfort.   Trees and sun are scarce in Iceland so one can understand a neighbour not wanting the shade and the other not wanting his tree touched.

Edda Björgvinsdóttir’s film demonstrates the worst there is in human beings, creating a dark comedy at its blackest. His characters are unforgiving (Agnes cannot forgive Atli for cheating), vindictive (Agnes calls her cheating husband out as a masturbator of sex videos he indulges in, at a community meeting) and cowardly.

The ending comes with a good twist that leaves audiences satisfied that they have seen a really black comedy/drama.  The film dominated the Edda Awards (Icelandic equivalent of the Oscars) with seven wins, including best film, director, actor (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson), actress (Edda Björgvinsdóttir), supporting actor (Sigurður Sigurjónsson), screenplay and visual effects.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7KeDwJCAc

 Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: UNDER THE TREE (Iceland/Denmark/Poland/Germany 2017) ***1/2

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Under the Tree Poster
Clip

When Baldwin and Inga’s next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

Director:

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson

Writers:

Huldar Breiðfjörð (story and screenplay), Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson

This is dark comedy am its blackest. A simple story that unfolds in all its unpredictability and horror. It is trouble for two neighbours, something that many can relate to. The shade from a front yard tree brings tensions to a boil for two families in an Icelandic suburb.

The husbands have a small argument over trimming the big tree as one of the wives likes to lie in the sun and does not want the shade from the tree. But the wives argue. The tires of a car are slashed followed by rude gnomes ornaments placed in the front of the house. Then when the cat goes missing, all hell breaks lose.

Amidst the arguing, there is a subplot of the son losing custody of his daughter after cheating on his wife. Sigurdsson keeps his film engaging from start to end by making his characters real, reacting and doing things that normal people all over the world might end up doing, when pushed to the limit.

The ending comes with a good twist that leaves audiences satisfied that they have seen a really black comedy/drama.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7KeDwJCAc
 

under the tree

Movie Review: RAMS (Iceland 2015) *** Directed by Grímur Hákonarson

festreviews actors, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

ramsRAMS (Iceland 2015) ***
Directed by Grímur Hákonarson

Starring: Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving

Review by Gilbert Seah

Few films from Iceland make it to North America, so when one like RAMS comes along, it is a real treat. The audience gets to see an unfamiliar lifestyle while experiencing a tale set in an unknown setting.

The film contains seldom seen images. These include, obviously the somewhat barren and pastoral Icelandic landscape and also other man-made concoctions like a character scrubbing his sheep in a bathtub.

RAMS is about sheep and rams. As the voiceover narrative informs, for a thousand years, sheep is of foremost importance to the Icelandic people. Sheep affect the outlook of the people. The film begins with a ram competition in a secluded valley in Iceland. The top prizes are announced with the top two ending up in the hands of two brothers by the names of Gummi and Kiddi. It turns out that the brothers are not on speaking terms, though they are neighbours. The story is one of hard survival of sheep farming under the harsh conditions of winter in Iceland.
Director Grímur Hákonarson used to make documentaries, so RAMS is detailed and authentic in its look. It features a harsh landscape of the valley, and does not show the modern capital city at all.

A lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s sheep with the entire valley coming under threat. The authorities decide to slaughter all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. The story is familiar after the recent remake of Thomas Hardy’s novel, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, the English period drama that featured a similar sheep disease. This is a near death sentence for the farmers, whose sheep are their main source of income, and many abandon their land in despair. But Gummi and Kiddi don’t give up so easily – and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle and Gummi by using his wits. As the authorities (depicted here as emotionless) close in, the brothers will need to come together to save the special breed passed down for generations, and themselves, from extinction.

One thing is that it is difficult to distinguish between the two brothers as they are both old, bearded and slightly fat. But one can tell after a while,as one has a whiter beard than the other.

The reason for the brothers’ conflict is explained but not really satisfactory – not that it matters that much. The conflict is eventually resolved, as expected, and this make the film’s more tender moments. There are two extremely moving segments one with Gummi and Kiddi hugging each other naked as brothers.

But the film demonstrates the triumph of the human spirit. It shows how man survives against all odds if he has the will to do so. Besides containing images of wild beauty that includes a snowstorm in the mountains in the film’s climax, Hákonarson’ film is a meticulously and sincere made film that is entertaining while being educational at he same time.

 

 

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com