Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2006, Side 11

“I just can’t believe we didn’t lose!” a satisfied
football fan said to his friend when trying to
walk through the crowd rushing from Lau-
gardalsvöllur, only seconds after the referee
had blown his whistle for the last time that
night. The Iceland National Football Team
had just played Spain in a friendly, ending in a
tie. Surprisingly, fans didn’t get the pleasure of
witnessing any goals this time around, which
was great news for Iceland but at the same
time a shocking result for Spain.
But why are Icelanders happy about a 0:0
draw? Why do we claim that as a victory? The
reason is simple. Icelanders suck at football.
No one can deny that fact. We have never
made it to the big boys’ tournaments, we only
have one Class-A player and at this moment
the team is experiencing its lowest rating ever,
ranking number 106 in FIFA world list, shar-
ing the seat with Azerbaijan and Singapore,
just below Cape Verde Islands, Botswana,
China PR, Armenia and Benin.
Spain on the other hand is among the
world’s top football nations with a highly
experienced team. Occupying the seventh
position on the same FIFA list, fresh from
Germany where they played the FIFA World
Cup for the eighth time in a row while we
haven’t even dreamt of an appearance at the
World Cup. A football game between these
two nations can’t be considered an even event,
and no one was expecting these results.
When walking towards Laugardalsvöllur, I
have to admit I was preparing for the humili-
ation of a crushing defeat, as were many with
whom I talked before the game. One guy told
me he wasn’t really ready to be humiliated
once again; another said that the Icelandic
players would probably just align at the goal
line with the keeper in front of them, hoping
that the ball wouldn’t go in. Even though the
majority of the nation had doomed the game
as a guaranteed slaughter, over 13,000 people
attended to watch a rather uneventful game of
bored and frustrated Spaniards trying to run
past competitive Icelanders, who sure weren’t
afraid of kicking some superstar asses.
That might just be the reason for a
crowded Laugardalsvöllur. Icelanders love
football and the stars of the Spanish team are
in many cases better-known than most of the
Icelandic players. Raúl, Torres, Reyes, Reina,
Ibanez, Garcia, Villa. People wanted to see
the idols for themselves, playing in their home
country. Never mind the results.
While the Spanish team is filled with top
world players from Liverpool, Barcelona and
Real Madrid to name a few, Icelanders have
one player who could be considered in their
range, but to our disappointment our local
golden boy Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen didn’t
show. Our striker and team leader, now play-
ing for Barcelona, pulled out of the team at
the last minute because of illness, leaving the
pressure on Hermann Hreiðarsson. But while
the game went on without Iceland’s only foot-
ball star, who rested at his home in Spain with
his teammates Puyol and Xavi, other players
finally got the chance to show what they got.
As said before, the majority expected
the Spanish players to get the better of the
Icelanders, leaving the nation humiliated
once again. But hell no! The Icelandic players
surprised us, Spain, and anyone paying even
the slightest amount of attention to European
soccer. The Icelandic team didn’t hang in on
defence the whole time, they weren’t afraid to
attack, and they honestly deserved to lead af-
ter the first half. They fought well and seemed
to enjoy themselves out on the field, while the
Spaniards showed us some dramatic tumbling
and couldn’t really be bothered to take this
seriously.
Yes, we didn’t lose this time and the media
had a field day. A fair draw they said while
complimenting the Icelandic players. The
Spanish media weren’t as satisfied though,
expecting beforehand that the team should
have wrapped up victory.
“El partido más tonto” or “The Stupidest
Game,” one Spanish newspaper headlined.
After witnessing Spain’s poor effort in
Iceland, supporters are now in serious doubt
about Aragones’s presence as the coach, but he
himself excused the game to the players’ low
enthusiasm to play a friendly at this point and
stating that they weren’t ready. He admitted
that it was the worst game ever for him as a
coach and was totally shocked by how the Ice-
landic players were rough in a friendly, send-
ing the Spanish players home all scratched
after harsh tackles.
Spain’s best performance that night wasn’t
out on the field but in the crowd. Their few
fans were the best team at Laugardalsvöllur
and in that field they played far better than
the locals. While a group of five Spaniards
standing near me, waving their f lag, shouting
“Viva Espana!” and singing football songs I
couldn’t understand were able to dominate
the Icelanders, I can’t agree with local media
thanking them for their support that night. If
we are ever going to win anything and make it
to the real tournaments we need some devoted
hooligans (without the violence). The Span-
iards were so thrilled, happy and in a good
mood, I was considering joining their team.
Surely there were a lot of pooh-poohings
when the opponents or the referee did some-
thing locals didn’t like, and we did manage
to let a wave go five rounds at one point of
the game, but when a couple of youngsters
were trying to do it again a man shushed
them and told them to stop the nonsense,
leaving the disappointed youngsters speech-
less. Nonsense? Aren’t we at a sporting event?
Aren’t we supposed to shout, paint our bellies
and f lash our breasts to the cameras? Not sit
there like at a dentist office, all shy and polite,
waiting for our turn while trying to let the
time pass with some distractions, like say,
a big football match. No f lares, as they are
forbidden, no big f lags or painted faces. Only
a couple of kids wearing Viking hats and some
men with team scarves. Once in a while a
choir of fans managed to shout “Áfram Ísland”
loud enough to create some competitiveness in
the stands, but that never lasted for long.
With the exception of a small crowd, our
fans really have to pep up before the game
against Denmark on September 6. We have
to stop being a football nation that is thrilled
with a 0:0 draw and shocked if we win a
game. We can’t continue reviling our team if
it doesn’t live up to our expectations if we can’t
be bothered to support our players like real
fans do. While the Spaniards are disappointed
and want to forget this whole extravaganza
ever happened, we Icelanders sure shouldn’t.
Now we just have to work on an attitude
change. Stop using the energy in poohing
and support the team for real. Then it will be
impossible to predict what will happen when
we will play Spain again in the Euro 2008
qualifiers.
We Have a Team, Now We Need Some Hooligans
Iceland vs. Spain: August 15
by steinunn jakobsdóttir photo by skari
recreation
“But why are Icelanders happy about a 0:0 draw? Why
do we claim that as a victory? The reason is simple.
Icelanders suck at football. No one can deny that fact.”
In filming Beowulf and Grendel, the director
had to deal with a series of hurricane force
gales, a shrinking budget, currency f luc-
tuations, and the most imposing text in the
history of the English language. He has no
regrets whatsoever.
/// As the name indicates, you are an Ice-
lander. When did you leave?
– I was born in Reykjavík and left Iceland
when I was six.
/// Obviously you returned a few times.
Your film demonstrates a lot of familiarity
with the Icelandic landscape, especially the
Suðurland.
– All of my family is still in Iceland, except
my mother and my aunt live here in Canada.
That landscape I know pretty well because
after I graduated university I worked on a
fish boat for a winter off of Þorlákshöfn. I’ve
always had a strong sort of spiritual feeling
about Southern Iceland.
/// And you do justice to the area. Yours is
the first film I’ve seen that properly docu-
ments that area.
– The landscape and the elements are charac-
ters in the film, I think. They’re so powerful.
Stellan Skarsgård described it like playing
every scene with an unwritten character. It
creates a sort of spontaneity in the perform-
ance. Nothing goes according to plan.
/// Which brings us to an important aspect
of your film. Your misfortune with the
weather, which was almost comical. It has
even become the subject of a documentary,
Wrath of the Gods.
– The filming was supposed to begin in the
summer, but the financing didn’t close. It
kept delaying the start of the film. We ended
up starting the film in September and that
pushed us into December, right into the heart
of the beast. I’m told it was the worst autumn
in 60 years. We had all those hurricanes in the
Atlantic and they all worked their way down.
(Laughing.)
/// But you can still laugh about it?
– Honestly, I think it made for a better film.
Although it was very difficult, I’ve got noth-
ing but good memories about it. We’d come
off the mountain every day with an incredible
sense of accomplishment. Most film crews
would have cut and run.
The truth is no matter how tough it was it was
never as tough as working on a fish boat.
/// Working on a fish boat may be hard, yes.
One thing that most people in the world find
more difficult, though, is Beowulf itself.
You’re talking about the point of no return
for English majors worldwide, who decide,
when they get to Beowulf that literature just
isn’t worth the trouble. How much fear was
there in taking on the most iconic text in the
English language?
– (Laughing.) You’re right. Beowulf and
Finnegan’s Wake are the end points for casual
study. I have to say that we were a little naïve
at the outset. It didn’t occur to me that there
would be such passion and feeling about the
source material.
Our intention right from the start was that
we have respect for the source, but we were
not doing a literal adaptation. Our intention
was to do a riff on it. Beowulf is the root of
the hero myth in our culture. And we wanted
to look at the hero myth through modern
eyes. While the story sticks to the bones of
the poem this is quite a subversive take on the
poem.
/// Which, really, becomes the English
major’s wet dream. Getting to apply modern
theory to the old text.
– I’d like to think that the film works for
people who’ve never read Beowulf. But to get
at the deeper understanding, that does require
a deeper understanding, because it’s revision-
ist. John Gardner’s book, Grendel, works on a
similar level, and that was a huge inf luence.
/// Those who see the movie and are familiar
with Icelandic history will see a few huge
departures. You’ve really made this into an
Icelandic Beowulf. I saw a lot of draw from
the Icelandic folktales and stories dealing
with the outcast hero.
– The inspiration for me, really, in designing
our look for Grendel, is that statue near the
university, Útlaginn (the outlaw). You’re the
first person that’s picked up on that.
/// I think there are a lot of things that are
very specific for those familiar with Iceland.
Your use of St. Brendan, who, according to
some sources, landed in Iceland, is particu-
larly specific, I think.
– On a clear day when we were shooting, you
could see Papey. Where Irish monks once
landed. The idea was to give a nod to the
poem as written, and that’s why we introduced
the Brendan character, who was loosely mod-
elled on Brendan the Navigator.
You’re talking about a period when the
inf luence of Christianity is just starting to be
felt.
You know Stellan, King Hrothgar, his
conversion was very Icelandic and sensible.
He doesn’t give up his Thor’s hammer. The
same way Icelanders took to Christianity. If
it will avoid a war, we’ll do it, but you can do
whatever you want at home.
Icelanders are very pragmatic. You have to
be in that environment. Pragmatic and fatal-
istic. It gets back to trying to understand who
these people are who live on this landscape,
where you have to be so incredibly tough and
driven to survive, but at the same time you
have to realise that you have no control over
the forces surrounding you. Which is kind of
how I felt when I was shooting the movie.
/// In your use of landscape, were you influ-
enced by Icelandic movies?
– No, with the exception of the fact that it
gave me confidence that the Icelandic horse
would look cool. The references were more
John Ford and Kurosawa, the wide screen and
the placement of character in landscape, was
more what we were trying to achieve. Maybe
with a little bit of Friðrik’s (Þór Friðriksson)
droll humour. Everybody in North America
has been pointing out that connection with
landscape. If you’re building a period piece
in North America, you’re lucky to get 10
degrees to shoot without interference. In
the southland, you can shoot 95 degrees, the
landscape is as it was 1,000 years ago. Which
is remarkable. What you get in Iceland is that
it’s one of the very places on earth where you
can have an unmediated experience. It’s not
directed by literature or media. I know that
the trend in Icelandic art is to move away from
the nature, but North Americans haven’t had
their fill yet.
/// You are an Icelander, and you chose to do
a story that took place in the same age as the
sagas, essentially, but used an old English
text. Would it have been more imposing to
do a saga?
– I looked at the sagas, and I explored that
to some length before deciding on Beowulf.
The problem for me was that whenever you
do one of those sagas in English, you lose
the character. Whereas Beowulf lives with
integrity in English. That was why I went
there. For me, the idea of making a film on
this scale, in Icelandic, there was no possibil-
ity of raising the funding. Because Beowulf
is one of the most mediated bits of literature
in the world, because it was passed down
for hundreds of years orally, it becomes the
cornerstone of English literature. You’ve got
all your Westerns based on this. You’ve got so
many variations of the tale told so many ways.
The DNA is so potent. I thought it allowed us
to take liberties that I would. I’m not sure the
world would have been ready for a subversive
revisionist take on Njáls Saga. Even if you
don’t know Beowulf, you know the myth that
underlies it. Even if you don’t know it, you
get the subversive take on the hero that we’re
going after.
/// I think when I had to teach Beowulf, I
brought in Jaws and Jaws 3. It influences
some major points of Western culture very
obviously.
– It’s a seminal work.
/// But we should point out, you did keep the
bones of the story. In fact, I’m guessing this
is the closest thing we’ll ever see to a literal
interpretation of Beowulf on the screen.
– Just because it’s subversive, there’s a lot of re-
spect for the source. There’s not a single spo-
ken word that’s not Norse-root English; there
are no Latin words. Even words like cunt can
be traced back to 1200, and it’s a Norse root
word. So there was a fidelity to the source.
/// Well, I’d say you were loyal to the source,
but Iceland is the star. This watches like as
much of a work about the love of Iceland as
anything I’ve seen.
– Being born in Iceland and having gone back
there, I feel very strongly about it. Seeing it
play in Iceland has a lot of meaning for me.
You never see this on film.
The farmers don’t overlook this. In Ker-
lingardalur, where we shot most of this, the
farmer there said he’d been out every single
day in this valley, and it’s never the same. It’s
still alive in the process of being formed.
The Icelandic Outlaw Sneaks into Beowulf
An interview with Beowulf & Grendel director Sturla Gunnarsson
by bart cameron
interview
“We’d come off the mountain every day with an incred-
ible sense of accomplishment. Most film crews would
have cut and run. The truth is no matter how tough it
was it was never as tough as working on a fish boat.”
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