Devil's Island (1996)

The story of families living in barracks, left by the US Army in Reykjavik at the conclusion of World War II.

Director:

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Writers:

Einar Kárason (novel), Einar Kárason (screenplay)

Stars:

Baltasar Kormákur, Gísli Halldórsson, Sigurveig Jónsdóttir

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Baltasar Kormákur	...	Baddi
Gísli Halldórsson	...	Thomas
Sigurveig Jónsdóttir	...	Karolina
Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	...	Dolly
Sveinn Geirsson	...	Danni
Guðmundur Ólafsson	...	Grettir
Ingvar Sigurdsson	...	Grjóni (as Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson)
Magnús Ólafsson	...	Hreggviður
Pálína Jónsdóttir	...	Hveragerður
Saga Jónsdóttir	...	Gógó
Arnljótur Sigurðsson	...	Bóbó eldri
Gylfi Sigurðsson	...	Bóbó yngri
Valgerður Sigurðardóttir	...	Gislina
Óskar Jónasson	...	Lúí Lúí
Ævar Örn Jósefsson	...	Maggi bjútí

Storyline

Djoflaeyjan takes place in Reykjavik in the years following World War II. The British and American occupation army has left their bunkers behind. They became homes to hundreds of lower-class people who were pouring into the capital during those years. Djoflaeyjan tells the story of the struggle and often humorous life of people in the bunkers in those difficult times.

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Plot Keywords:

barracks | elvis presley | unsubtitled foreign language | dysfunctional family | post world war two | 

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Taglines:

Dyrasta kvikmynd sem gerd hefur verid a Islandi

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Iceland Germany Norway Denmark

Language:

Icelandic English

Release Date:

3 October 1996 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

A Ilha do Diabo

Filming Locations:

Breiðamerkurlón, Breiðamerkursandur, Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

ISK 200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

DEM 46,388 (Germany), 18 January 1998, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,814, 14 March 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,814, 14 March 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icelandic Film, Zentropa Entertainments, Peter Rommel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is a true story which happened in Reykjavik, Iceland. The real name of Baddi is Bóbó. He was known as "Bóbó á Holtinu".

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Goofs

When Baddi drives his car from the airport after staying at his mother in the USA, another person is seen in his car, though he apparently comes back alone.

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Quotes

Dolly: Hey Dolly. Don't let the sun catch you cryin'.

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Connections

References The Bad Seed (1956)

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Soundtracks

All Shook Up
Written by Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley

User Reviews

Not as good as Cold Fever, Baddi worse than bad

I go out of my way to view foreign/independent film (I know, we're a vanishing breed) and rented this video at a neighborhood store that has a pretty good foreign selection mostly on the power of having seen COLD FEVER, which I enjoyed.

While I appreciate "dark comedies" as much as the next person -- and am a huge fan of Aki Kurasmaki (so I have some familiarity of Scandinavian film sensibility) -- it was a mistake to have placed so much of the film's success around a character as thoroughly unlikable as Baddi.

While he dominates the screen with charmless, witless and appalling behavior that knows no bounds (premised on his contact with "America"), most of the other characters are used as props and are nobly antithetical, i.e., they have a conscience. But for the most part, as a whole they cannot counterbalance the effect that the Baddi character has on the film.

That is a shame because there appeared to be some good potential character driven aspects to the story that were wasted.