Jar City (2006)

A murder opens up a bleak trail of long buried secrets and small town corruption for a worn out police detective and his squad.

Director:

Baltasar Kormákur

Writers:

Arnaldur Indriðason (novel), Baltasar Kormákur (screenplay)

Stars:

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson

12 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson	...	Erlendur (as Ingvar E. Sigurðsson)
Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir	...	Eva Lind
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson	...	Sigurður Óli
Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir	...	Elínborg
Atli Rafn Sigurðsson	...	Örn
Kristbjörg Kjeld	...	Katrín
Þorsteinn Gunnarsson	...	Holberg Jónsson
Theodór Júlíusson	...	Elliði
Þórunn Magnea Magnúsdóttir	...	Elín
Guðmunda Elíasdóttir	...	Theodóra
Walter Grímsson	...	Handrukkarar
Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson	...	Handrukkarar
Magnús Ragnarsson	...	Lögfræðingur
Rafnhildur Rósa Atladóttir	...	Kola Örnsdóttir
Jón Sigurbjörnsson	...	Albert

Storyline

Örn's daughter is dead because of a rare genetic disease. By this time Erlendur has to find Holdeberg's killer. He has to find out what happened 30 years ago and to connect it with his case and he has another problem...His relationships with his daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | police detective | police | dead body | ashtray | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Memento Films [France]

Country:

Iceland Germany Denmark

Language:

Icelandic

Release Date:

20 October 2006 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Jar City

Filming Locations:

Hvalsnes, Reykjanes, Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

ISK 180,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Pictures, Blueeyes Productions, Degeto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The take-away food Erlendur is eating is boiled sheep's head known as "Svið", an Icelandic delicacy.

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Connections

Remade as Jar City

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Soundtracks

Nú legg ég augun aftur
Written by Mugison

User Reviews

TV Movie Plot with Stunning Cinematography

This is a well made, enjoyable crime thriller that manages to sustain tension and interest throughout its run time and marries this with some well handled comic moments. The main character, Erlunder, is a multi-layered and believable, ageing, seen-it-all-before cop, while the scenes involving discovery of dead bodies are skin-crawlingly well acted and nauseously realistic.

However, given the kind of budgets and talent available to producers of TV crime series these days, Jar City suffers from the fact that the plot really could form an episode of CSI:Rejkjavik or, dare I say it Taggart (a old British crime series). There are no huge surprises or twists in the tail - it is, essentially, a standard, old fashioned who/why dunnit.

However, what sets Jar City apart from CSI and its ilk is the cinematography. Obviously I've seen images of Iceland before - but I've never seen it captured in such a bleak, but beautiful fashion. Iceland itself is centrally important to the character of this film (and might even be said to be one of the characters) and its strangely picturesque scenery and, in some cases, downright weirdness, make Jar City worth watching just for this alone.