Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.09.2005, Síða 11

Lögberg-Heimskringla » Föstudagur 23. september 2005 • 11
Broken mirrors in glass houses
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ICELANDIC FILM CENTRE
Forest Whitaker plays eccentric insurance claims adjuster Abraham Holt in Baltazar Kormákur’s A Little Trip to Heaven.
A Little Trip to Heaven
Directed by Baltasar
Kormákur
Iceland, 2005, 98 mins.
Reviewed by
Todd Gillam
Shortly after the opening
credits, a convertible
with two passengers gets
rear-ended off a rather consid-
erable cliff by the commercial
truck behind it. The message is
clear: the remaining 90 minutes
of Baltasar Kormákur’s latest
film, A Little Trip to Heaven,
is going to provide a similarly
jarring ride.
The story centers on Abra-
ham Holt (Forest Whitaker),
an insurance claims adjuster
with heavy framed glasses and
a strong Minnesota accent.
Holt is proficient at dismiss-
ing fraudulent claims, quickly
established during a darkly
comic scene involving a traffic
accident with a city bus. This
skill lands him his next assign-
ment concerning a man named
Kelvin Anderson.
Anderson is a known scam
artist who has allegedly died
in a car crash, his body bumed
beyond the local sheriff’s mod-
est abilities to identify him.
Anderson’s insurance policy
is set to pay out one million
dollars to his surviving sister,
Isold (Julia Stiles) and her hus-
band Fred (Jeremy Renner)
— unless Holt can confirm his
growing suspicions about the
case.
As is typical in Kormákur’s
films, the characters each car-
ry wounds that figure promi-
nently in the unfolding story.
The voyeuristic camera shows
Isold rubbing cream over nu-
merous scars on her body,
while Holt nurses less obvious
injuries of his own. He has de-
voted his professional life to
finding connections between
clues as an investigator, but
seems unable to connect with
anyone in a profoundly mean-
ingful way.
Holt’s quest sends him
wandering alone across the
alien landscape of Hastings
—- southern Iceland serving as
a surreal, though unconvinc-
ing, northem Minnesota in the
1980s. He angers the town’s
ineffectual police force with
his eccentric methods, and
openly lies to Isold and local
diner waitresses about the na-
ture of his questions. Though
Holt is searching for the truth,
being truthful has never been a
part of his job.
Kormákur’s tale evokes
feelings of distrust and isola-
tion that seep into every frame.
His use of a desaturated colour
palette, more familiar now af-
ter mainstream offerings like
Saving Private Ryan, is further
evidence of how life and op-
timism have been drained out
of this world. When advertise-
ments for the insurance com-
pany (subtly named “Quality
Life”) play on the television,
the undeniable artifice of idyl-
lic scenes with pastel sweat-
ers and sunny park benches
contrasts sharply 'with Holt’s
journey.
Characters are also held at
a distance, often framed behind
glass — in some ways shield-
ed, but frequently obscured.
The unforgiving weather pelts
windshields wilh rain, mud,
and snow. Tmdging around in
these downpours, Holt’s thick
glasses are rarely clear. When
working on his computer,
the lower left comer of the
screen’s image is smeared out
of focus. Isold fixes her hair
and Fred brushes his teeth in
the reflection of cracked mir-
rors. As the narrative begin to
rumble towards its conclusion,
our perspective shifts to shots
through broken windows and
gaping roofs.
A Little Trip to Heaven ad-
heres to many of our expecta-
tions of a film noir, and therein
lies some level of disappoint-
ment. While a happy ending
would be completely unset-
tling, the predictable one found
here is a distinct letdown.
Icelandic films
in Edmonton,
Vancouver
film festivals
Icelandic movies continue
to make appearances at film
festivals across Canada.
The Intemational Film Fes-
tival at Edmonton’s Princess
Theatre includes Dagur Kári’s
Dark Horse, a comedy-drama
about a graffiti artist in Copen-
hagen, which will be shown
October 5.
The Vancouver Film Festi-
val will show multiple screen-
ings between October 1 and 7
of Dark Horse, as well as Stur-
la Gunnarsson’s Beowulf and
Grendel, which premiered at
the Toronto Intemational Film
Festival earlier this month.
For more information, see
the Calendar of Events.
Experience Ice
Seasonafity:

an
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Inciudes: Reykjavik & Glasgow
• Return airfare.
■ 3 nights hotel accommodation (standard category)
in Reykjavik and Glasgow.
• Aírport transfers in lceland.
• Blue Lagoon entrance.
Central Scotland Rover pass (3 day).
From Toronto,
Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax
For Departures From:
Winnipeg add $100
Regina/Saskatoon add $240
Edmonton/Calgary add $240
Vancouver add $300
Eastem Canada via Boston Oct30-Dec17 2005, Dec24-Mar31 2006
Western Canada via Minneapolis Oct30-Dec17 2005,Dec24-Jan9 2006,Marl 3-31 2006
Prices shown are per person excluding taxes of approx. $155-190 depending on departure city
and are for low season travel. Rates are available on request for travel ín other seasons.
^Great phone To11 Fre6: ^ 800 661 >3830
Canadian iceland@gctc-mst.com
TravelSw www.iceland-expenence.com
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