Cold Fever (1995)
"Á köldum klaka" (original title)

A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.

Director:

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Writers:

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, Jim Stark

Stars:

Masatoshi Nagase, Lili Taylor, Fisher Stevens

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Masatoshi Nagase	...	Hirata
Lili Taylor	...	Jill
Fisher Stevens	...	Jack
Gísli Halldórsson	...	Siggi
Laura Hughes	...	Laura
Seijun Suzuki	...	Hirata's Grandfather
Hiromasa Shimada	...	Suzuki
Masayuki Sasaki	...	Higashino
Taizô Mizumura	...	Hirata's father
Ichiko Takashi	...	Hirata's mother
Taeko Kato	...	Girl in TV show
Toshimori Iwaki	...	TV show commentator
Ari Matthíasson	...	Bus guide
Magnús Ólafsson	...	Taxi driver
Rúrik Haraldsson	...	Grave digger

Storyline

Hirata finds himself canceling his vacation plans to Hawaii when his grandfather reminds him of his duty to his parents. Seven years earlier, Hirata's parents had been killed in an accident in Iceland and Japanese tradition holds that their souls will not be at ease until the proper ceremonies have been performed. Thus, Hirata sets out on a journey, a quest to the river where his parents perished. Along the way, in this Icelandic-Japanese road movie, he encounters many difficulties, tough situations, and odd people in the land of fire and ice. Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's vision infuses Iceland's stark and beautiful landscape with a haunting spirituality.

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Plot Keywords:

iceland | japanese | tradition | journey | ritual | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA Japan Iceland Denmark Germany

Language:

English Icelandic Japanese German

Release Date:

5 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cold Fever

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

ISK 130,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$337,560 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icicle, Altar Productions, Film Fonds

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in I Am Curious, Film (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Karma"
Written and performed by Jóhann Jóhannsson (as Jóhann G. Jóhannsson)
Courtesy of Geimsteinn

User Reviews

Get ready to laugh

The first time I saw Cold Fever was May of last year. It was in a time when I was lost in life. That's when Cold Fever was coming on HBO. I sat there for 90 mins and I found the film very funny and quite moving. The way everyone keeps asking Atsushi, "So how do you like Iceland?" or the characters he runs into. Some of them include Laura, a woman who likes to "collect" funerals or American tourists Jack and Jill, who bicker all the time because they disagree on taking a vacation to Iceland. Atsushi first finds this trip as a burden because he was looking forward to going to Hawaii to play golf. Instead, he has to go to Iceland to perform a ritual by the river where his parents drowned. Then, throughout this journey he learns more about himself. He finds some of the strangest people you will meet...a cab driver performing a strange ritual, a girl who restarts his car with a sonic scream, and my favorites, the Islandic Cowboys. When he finally gets his mission accomplished of performing the ritual, he learns that sometimes a journey can take you places that aren't on any map. That is so true. I wanted this movie so bad that I finally received it from Amazon today. It is still as great as when I saw it a year ago. Check this out because it is brilliant.