Mørkets øy (1997)

Julie is a young and newly qualified teacher from Copenhagen, Denmark. Fed up with her unfaithful boyfriend and big city life, she takes a job as a teacher on an idyllic island in southern ... See full summary »

Director:

Trygve Allister Diesen

Writers:

Trygve Allister Diesen, Nikolaj Scherfig

Stars:

Sofie Gråbøl, Paul-Ottar Haga, Sina Langfeldt

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Julie
Paul-Ottar Haga	...	Roald
Sina Langfeldt	...	Solveig
Martin Slaatto	...	Lars
Trini Lund	...	Amanda Bakken
John Sigurd Kristensen	...	Bakken
Juni Dahr	...	Wenche Øymoen
Håkon Rosseland	...	Øymoen
Sigvor Skjeie	...	Mrs. Jacobsen
Terje Strømdahl	...	Dr. Svendsen
Erik Hivju	...	Sheriff Quist
Lars Funderud Johannessen	...	Ferry conductor
Heidi Goldman	...	Nurse
Ole Geir Feste	...	Pål Henriksen
Elisabeth Isaachsen	...	Helga

Storyline

Julie is a young and newly qualified teacher from Copenhagen, Denmark. Fed up with her unfaithful boyfriend and big city life, she takes a job as a teacher on an idyllic island in southern Norway. Julie finds it difficult to be accepted in the closed-net community of the island. Slowly but surely, she discovers that the idyllic island hides many dark secrets. Julie is about to give up, but then she meets the island's sympathetic priest Roald. Beautiful and charming he becomes her gate into the community.

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Plot Keywords:

island | teacher | norway | priest | secret | 

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Taglines:

The nightmare may happen to You.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller | Mystery

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Details

Official Sites:

Norwegian Film Institute

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian Danish

Release Date:

26 December 1997 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Insel der Dunkelheit

Filming Locations:

Asker, Akershus, Norway

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balboa Enterprise, Northern Lights

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 83 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Six Days on the Road"
Written by Green and Montgomery
Performed by Motorpsycho

User Reviews

Well cast and entertaining.

A drama with some tense moments and a gripping climax. When Julie, a Danish school-teacher takes on a new job on a small Norwegian island, she discovers that the god-fearing islanders and their crazy vicar hide a dark secret. It seems that past students at the school have committed suicide. Julie starts to piece together bits of information despite the fact that the church members tend to shun her believing that the devil sent her to their island. This air of mystery is well-developed. Like all good thrillers it is difficult to point a finger at the guilty party although one does have some strong suspicions fairly early on. But is it a red herring? A man carrying an axe, shadowy cellars and faces suddenly appearing unexpectedly at unlocked doors add to the general spooky atmosphere. But this is nothing compared with the closing scenes when Julie exposes the perpetrator and the secret is revealed. The chase which follows and the escape by boat is truly exciting....real edge of the seat stuff! In fact it's enough to put you off teaching as a profession, and the church as depicted in this film is not particularly inviting either.