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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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:

€2,200,000 (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

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

User Reviews

Well crafted, intimate childhood scenes

As I was watching this film I realized once again how lucky we are to have other sources of film than Hollywood. The plot repeatedly comes to a stop, in order to allow the full development of a moment - a child listening to the sounds of a new born baby in the night, the long wait by fisherman families at a dock for the return of a capsized boat (along with the discovery of who perished) - the repeated view of the great mountain above the village, the perilous threat of the sea, the family breakfast and bedroom moments, ... the short telephone call to his love, announcing that he was joining his life to hers. So much interior development. Which is where it occurs, right? The film passes a key test of quality for me - one week after viewing I am still thinking and remembering it with interest and pleasure.

Caveat: I'm Icelandic myself (i.e., my Grandfather was) - but wouldn't have a problem panning a poor quality Icelandic film.

Calvin Arnason