Iceland is a geographically stunning country in which I, a resident of New York City, feel an overwhelming sense of safety. It's a place to which I return each winter to savor a little respite from reality.
So it was a little discombobulating to discover "True Icelandic Crimes" about violence in my favorite foreign country.
The first entry in the series, "The Airline Murder," describes the bitterness of a pilot named Gunnar in the the aftermath of Iceland's receiving its first jet in the spring of 1967. He ended up fatally shooting an executive of Air Iceland and serving six years for the attack. (Gunnar died at the age of 91).
As a student of the Icelandic language, I appreciated that the series employs extensive use of old newspapers, whose headlines I tried to decipher, and interviewed a retired police officer, who spoke in a beautiful Icelandic with an English voice-over.
It was quite interesting to see numerous film clips of Iceland, and its capital city of Reykjavik, from decades ago, before the sub-arctic island nation had registered on the radar of tourists. Of particular note is an ancient-looking heavy-stone building that still exists on one of the capital's main shopping streets, which is depicted in this episode as a jail.
The airline executive's killing took place in front of his wife and three children, a truly tragic event. It's hard to believe that a US-style crime could happen in such a tranquil environment. And even more astonishing that there are nine more episodes for me to explore in the series!
As jarring as the message here, I am glad I stumbled upon this series. I'll look forward to watching the rest of the programs for more practice with Icelandic and my ongoing effort to understand the nation's culture in greater depth.
So it was a little discombobulating to discover "True Icelandic Crimes" about violence in my favorite foreign country.
The first entry in the series, "The Airline Murder," describes the bitterness of a pilot named Gunnar in the the aftermath of Iceland's receiving its first jet in the spring of 1967. He ended up fatally shooting an executive of Air Iceland and serving six years for the attack. (Gunnar died at the age of 91).
As a student of the Icelandic language, I appreciated that the series employs extensive use of old newspapers, whose headlines I tried to decipher, and interviewed a retired police officer, who spoke in a beautiful Icelandic with an English voice-over.
It was quite interesting to see numerous film clips of Iceland, and its capital city of Reykjavik, from decades ago, before the sub-arctic island nation had registered on the radar of tourists. Of particular note is an ancient-looking heavy-stone building that still exists on one of the capital's main shopping streets, which is depicted in this episode as a jail.
The airline executive's killing took place in front of his wife and three children, a truly tragic event. It's hard to believe that a US-style crime could happen in such a tranquil environment. And even more astonishing that there are nine more episodes for me to explore in the series!
As jarring as the message here, I am glad I stumbled upon this series. I'll look forward to watching the rest of the programs for more practice with Icelandic and my ongoing effort to understand the nation's culture in greater depth.
