The Garden (2020)

Indiana lives in a council estate and makes her living preying on the welfare system. In her small private garden she tends to her award winning tree. When her only son turns up with a foreign girlfriend - Indiana's world is upended.

Director:

Ragnar Bragason

Writer:

Ragnar Bragason

Stars:

Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir, Eyþór Gunnlaugsson, Karolina Gruszka

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir	...	Indíana
Eyþór Gunnlaugsson	...	Jónas
Karolina Gruszka	...	Daniela
Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	...	Jóhanna Einarsdóttir
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Grace Achieng	...	Althea
Auðunn Blöndal	...	Orri
Anna Claessen	...	Rescue Team member
Audi Finn	...	Ritari
Jón Gnarr	...	Hjalti Pétur
Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson	...	Þórður
Halldór Gylfason	...	Björn
Helga Kristín Helgadóttir	...	Kona á bar
Birgitta Hreiðarsdóttir	...	Kona í verslunarmiðstöð
Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir	...	Gerður
Oddur Júlíusson	...	Pálmi

Storyline

Indiana lives in a council estate and makes her living preying on the welfare system. In her small private garden she tends to her award winning tree. When her only son turns up with a foreign girlfriend - Indiana's world is upended.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | mother son relationship | neighbor | apartment block | reykjavik iceland | 

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Taglines:

If you talk gently to a plant and just give it some warmth and love, it'll blossom

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Alternate Versions

TV version: 3 episodes, approx. 45 minutes each

User Reviews

More interesting than average synopsis suggests. Surpassing racial and immigration issues, by portraying complex family relations and swindling social services as a bonus

Saw this during the Movies That Matter 2021 filmfestival, normally in The Hague but now 100% online. In the first hour I had the wrong impression that the migration/racial issues where the main ingredients of this movie, things we have seen in plenty of documentaries. Luckily, it becomes more complex and also more interesting when other sides of Indiana's life are revealed. She, for example, has swindled social services for many years already, which counters her disdain for migrants who work to earn their own salary, like her maybe-daughter-in-law does. This makes this movie surpassing the usual race/national supremacy theme, also making us curious while watching how these story lines can come together in the end.

I wanted to write much more about this movie, but it is easier for me to refer to an already existing review in MovieMovesMe(dot)com, under the title "TIFF 2020: The Garden", written by Ulkar Alakbarova. I fully agree with that review and cannot add anything useful.

Details

Country:

Iceland Poland

Language:

Icelandic Polish English

Release Date:

10 January 2020 (Iceland)

Also Known As:

Guldregn

Filming Locations:

Reykjavik, Iceland

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$97,299

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mystery Productions, Madants, Ríkisútvarpið-Sjónvarp (RÚV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 140 min (entire series) (TV)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1