The Last Farm (2004) Síðasti bærinn (original title)

Director:

Rúnar Rúnarsson

Writer:

Rúnar Rúnarsson

Release Date:

October 2004 (Iceland)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

An Icelandic short about an old man who might leave his farm keeps a secret.

Plot Keywords:

Winter | Retirement Home | Farmer | Iceland | Remote

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 13 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir	...	Daughter
Jón Sigurbjörnsson	...	Hrafn
Sigurður Skúlason	...	Postman
Kristjana Vagnsdottir	...	Gróa

Directed by
Rúnar Rúnarsson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rúnar Rúnarsson

Produced by
Skuli Fr. Malmquist	....	producer
Thor Sigurjonsson	....	producer (as Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson)

Original Music by
Kjartan Sveinsson

Cinematography by
Magni Ágústsson

Film Editing by
Sigurbjorg Jonsdottir

Art Department
Haukur Karlsson	....	set designer

Sound Department
Steingrímur E. Guðmundsson	....	sound (as Steingrímur Eyfjörð Guðmundsson)
Ingvar Lundberg	....	sound re-recording mixer
Björn Viktorsson	....	sound recordist

Other crew
Hlín Jóhannesdóttir	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Zik Zak Kvikmyndir

Distributors

• Icelandic Film Center (2004) (Iceland) (all media)

Also Known As:

"Síðasti bærinn" - Iceland (original title)

Runtime:

17 min

Country:

Iceland

Language:

Icelandic

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:LH

Company:

Zik Zak Kvikmyndir

Movie Connections:

Featured in 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (2006)

Visually beautiful, restrained and with a strong vein of pathos

An old man lives with his wife on an isolated farmstead along the Icelandic coastline. His whole life spent there, raising his family and tending his land, he has no wish to give it up and move to the comfortable retirement home that his children have set up for him. However as preparations are made around him, he makes his own plans.

A touching and simple film this one, nothing earth shattering in the emotions it delivers and the plot "twist" is not really going to take anyone by surprise – but then that is not the intension. Instead it is a thoughtful and genuine look at the treatment of the old within modern society by looking at this one farmer in particular. Although extreme, I found it easy to understand his emotions and to relate to them, despite not having any frame of reference for this. The credit belongs to Runarsson for this because he made it so accessible and easy to engage with. The script is minimal but the development of the main character is well done without many words, to the point where we understand the man and who he is (independent, old fashioned, proud and certainly not someone who is ready to be lost into an easy place for the convenience of others).

This is matched by a solid and dignified central performance as well as beautiful cinematography which helps us visually make the contrast between his life and his fate in a nursing home. I'm sure some viewers will bemoan the simplicity of the message but to me they are being overly critical – it is not rammed down our throat so much as it is just simply laid in front of us. Run through with pathos and emotion, it is a great little short film and worth seeing.