Cold Light (2004)

What could be better than knowing your future? And what could be worse? A love-filled childhood abruptly ends when catastrophe descends. One that the child had foreseen yet failed to act upon.

Director:

Hilmar Oddsson

Writers:

Vigdís Grímsdóttir (novel), Hilmar Oddsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Ingvar Sigurdsson, Unnur Ösp Stefánsdóttir, Ruth Olafsdottir

11 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingvar Sigurdsson	...	Older Grímur (as Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson)
Unnur Ösp Stefánsdóttir	...	Woman in reception
Ruth Olafsdottir	...	Linda
Steinunn Harðardóttir	...	Svava
Borghildur Thors	...	Woman in a window
Áslákur Ingvarsson	...	Young Grímur
Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir	...	Lára
Helga Braga Jónsdóttir	...	Guðbjörg
Snæfríður Ingvarsdóttir	...	Gottína
Kristbjörg Kjeld	...	Álfrún
Thórey Sigthórsdóttir	...	Thóra, Grimur's mother
Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir	...	Anna
Marta Nordal	...	Woman at the exhibition
Elís Philip William Scobie	...	Young Tumi
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson	...	Indriði

Storyline

A 40-year-old is hiding in a self-made prison of mundane life. The film opens as he finally becomes resolved to dare gaze at and come to terms with someone's totally different life. His unthinkable past. He turbulently sheds the cobwebs to find that light and happiness have been awaiting him. And this potentially cold cinematic knock on life's door becomes a defiantly uplifting work of art.

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Plot Keywords:

childhood | female nudity | old lady | nude painting | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Do you sometimes feel that you know something will happen before it does? Something bad...

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Edda Heidrún Backman's last film before retiring as an actress do to her illness.

User Reviews

One of the best films I have ever seen

Kaldaljos (Cold Light) is a psychological drama about a man (Grimur) with a tragic past and problems with a current relationship with his art teacher (Linda.) But it is so much more than that. It is a truly beautiful film, which has amazing scenery and shows you the nature of the human psyche. I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you enjoy icelandic films and have seen Falcons (also with Ingvar Sigurdsson.) I saw it last week at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and I was truly amazed. Plus, the directer (Hilmur Oddsson) was there and he did a Q&A. It was very exciting. See it if you have the chance, especially if it comes back to the US!!!

Details

Official Sites:

Production Company - synopsis

Country:

Iceland Norway UK Germany

Language:

Icelandic English German

Release Date:

1 January 2004 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Cold Light

Filming Locations:

Reykjavík, Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

EUR2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icelandic Film, Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), Filmhuset AS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1