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 Sigurdsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson

12 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingvar Sigurdsson	...	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

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

Featured in Timeshift: Nordic Noir: The Story of Scandinavian Crime Fiction (2010)

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Soundtracks

Bí bí blaka
Written by Mugison

User Reviews

Interesting crime tale

This is an Icelandic movie about a murder, the only clue to which is a picture of a headstone of a five year old girl that died 30 years ago. In parallel to that, there is also a story of a genetic researcher whose four year old daughter has just died. How do these stories tie together? That is what makes the movie so intriguing. The story structure is such that the lead detective, Erlunder (played compellingly by Ingvar E. Sigurðsson), must investigate a crime from 30 years ago in order to solve the murder he's got on his hands now. Surprisingly, this is done with a bare minimum of flashbacks (I counted two), neither of which are to the original girl's death. The director, Baltasar Kormákur, sets a dreary tone using a muted color palette and wide shots of bleak terrain surrounding the city. The stark architecture only adds to this feeling of despair. A side story of Erlendur's relationship with his drug addicted daughter adds depth to the overall story by fleshing out the point of view character. This is by no means an amazing film, but it is very good. The supporting characters don't stand out much, but rather seem to be foils for Erlendur to play off of. This was apparently based on one of a series of crime novels and I'd be very interested to see adaptations of the others if the story quality is as consistent as this one.

Details

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:

ISK180,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$748,405

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