Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Tómas Lemarquis | ... | Nói | |
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Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson | ... | Kiddi Beikon |
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Elín Hansdóttir | ... | Íris |
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Anna Friðriksdóttir | ... | Lína |
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Hjalti Rögnvaldsson | ... | Óskar |
Pétur Einarsson | ... | Prestur | |
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Kjartan Bjargmundsson | ... | Gylfi |
Þorsteinn Gunnarsson | ... | Þórarinn Skólastjóri | |
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Guðmundur Ólafsson | ... | Alfreð Kennari |
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Haraldur Jónsson | ... | Teitur Sálfræðingur |
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Gérard Lemarquis | ... | Frönskukennari |
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Greipur Gíslason | ... | Dabbi |
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Páll Loftsson | ... | Pabbi Dabba / Bankastjóri |
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Ásdís Thoroddsen | ... | Bankastarfsmaður |
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Ásmundur Ásmudsson | ... | Barþjónn |
Is he the village idiot or a genius in disguise? 17 year old Noi drifts through life on a remote fjord in the north of Iceland. In winter, the fjord is cut off from the outside world, surrounded by ominous mountains and buried under a shroud of snow. Noi dreams of escaping from this white-walled prison with Iris, a city girl who works in a local gas station. But his clumsy attempts at escape spiral out of control and end in complete failure. Only a natural disaster will shatter Noi's universe and offer him a window into a better world.
Although distant in time and space, this work is reminiscent of post-WW2 Italian neorealism, with a sprinkle of dry Nordic humour. The grandiose setting of Iceland's north-western fjord region is the real protagonist: that huge white cone-shaped mountain looms in the background, very similar to Dante's Purgatory mount, meting out penance and confining the souls living within its shadow. The actors - like in neorealistic movies - seem (but aren't) taken from the street, they look completely natural, they have jobs and behave like real people. The title character is amazingly expressive, despite his shaved head and eyebrows. With a fractional movement of the eyes and mouth he moves us to tears or laughter. The dialogues are scanty, but the continuity makes it all very clear: Noi is a child prodigy, who is tied to an inescapable, remote environment. He is at variance with his teachers, but loves - and is loved by - his disjoint family. He dreams of escaping to an entirely different world, a world of sunny beaches and palm trees, taking along the girl he is infatuated with. But deep down he knows his dream is doomed: there is no escape from his icy ghetto - almost.