Count Me Out (1997)

A little girl "kidnaps" her half-sister in order to get the attention of her father who left her mother years ago for another woman (who gave birth to her half-sister).

Director:

Ari Kristinsson

Writer:

Ari Kristinsson

Stars:

Bergþóra Aradóttir, Freydís Kristófersdóttir, Edda Heidrún Backman

3 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bergþóra Aradóttir	...	Sofie
Freydís Kristófersdóttir	...	Yrsa
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edda Heidrún Backman	...	Mamma Yrsu
Halldóra Björnsdóttir	...	Mamma Hrefnu
Maria Ellingsen	...	Pálina
Bergsveinn Eyland	...	Kerru strákur
Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	...	Margrét 'Magga'
Elisa Maria Geirsdóttir
Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson	...	Siggi
Bryndís Gunnlaugsdottír	...	Didda (as Bryndís Sæunn Sigriður Gunnlaugsdottír)
Hlynur Helgi Hallgrímsson	...	Steini
Hafsteinn Hansson
Jóhanna Vigdís Hjaltadóttir
Grétar Snær Hjartarson	...	LögregluÞjónn 1
Árni Þórður Jónsson	...	SjónvarpsÞulur

Storyline

Hrefna lives alone with her mother and longs for her father, who she has never met. Her mother keeps on telling her that he's living abroad, but on her tenth birthday, Hrefna discovers that he actually returned to Iceland years ago. Hrefna and her resourceful friend, Yrsa, manage to track him down, only to discover that he doesn't even recognize his own daughter. And to make matters worse, he has a new wife and baby. Kidnapping is no kid's stuff, but what can a little girl do to get her father's attention these days?

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Plot Keywords:

iceland | kidnapping | baby | mother daughter relationship | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

Barnsrán er enginn barnaleikur (Kidnapping a child is not child-play)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family

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Details

Country:

Iceland

Language:

Icelandic

Release Date:

26 December 1997 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Count Me Out

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icelandic Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

User Reviews

Seriousness with a smile

Simply a good movie. Story: a 10 year-old girl (Bergthora Aradottir as 'Sofie') realises that her father is not abroad, as her mother has always told her, but simply has left her mother and lives with another woman. She decides to look him up and confront him, with the help from her best friend (Freydis Kristofersdottir as 'Yrsa'). This leads to complications such as the kidnapping of Sofie's half-sister. This movie is exciting, the story doesn't leave you bungling somewhere. Every time you think, where do we go from here?, the director takes you along some path which seems logical but not predictable. The two main characters play their parts exceedingly well, with Aradottir as the doubting and sensitive one yearning for recognition and Kristofersdottir as the more streetwise(-ish) tomboy. Real emotions are displayed and the drama is never too thick. It's quite amazing how well these children act. There's more balance between Aradottir and Kristofersdottir than for example in a comparable film like "Selma and Johanna" (Sweden, 1997), where it is sort of lacking. The movie is quite realistic, it is only unrealistic in the fact that it IS a movie, for children at that. Only at the end one gets the feeling that they ran out money or time.