Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.06.2008, Blaðsíða 47

Article | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 07 2008 | B15
Director Dagur Kári has earned his spot as one
of Iceland’s leading directors, although he was
born in Paris and educated in Denmark. After the
success of his debut film, Nói Albínói, Dagur Kári
shot his second feature film, Voksne Mennesker,
in Denmark. Even though he once described the
Icelandic movie industry as a playground, com-
pared to Denmark, Dagur Kári has returned to
Iceland to shoot his next and biggest film so far,
The Good Heart.
Much Ado About Something
The project has received considerable publicity
over the last few months. The script was written by
Dagur Kári himself, and has won several awards
amongst others the prestigious NHK International
Filmmakers awards at Sundance Film Festival.
The script has gotten rave reviews by many and
Þórir Sigurjónsson, the producer, has described
it as if Charles Bukowski had written the Pygma-
lion. Ryan Goosling and Tom Waits were origi-
nally scheduled to star in the film, but both had
to pull out due to other engagements. That hardly
dampened Dagur Kári’s spirit. Instead of Goosling
he casted the rising star Paul Dano who has, in
spite of his young age, starred in two Oscar films.
Tom Waits was promptly replaced with the experi-
enced and unimpeachable Brian Cox.
When The Grapevine tried to catch up with
some of the stars attached to this film it turned out
to be rather strenuous; the foreigners were always
either shooting or on mandatory tours around the
country. At last we gave up on trying to reach the
stars, and instead got a hold of some of the pro-
duction staff, the all-important behind-the-scenes
people who everyone knows really put the films
together anyway. They informed us that the at-
mosphere on set wasn’t typical for an Icelandic
film sets, but much more metropolitan to say the
least.
Barflies Redux With a Twist
The film plot line is elaborate but it takes on the
coarse New York Bartender Jacques (Brian Cox)
who operates a bar attended by hardcore bums
and is as fierce looking as he is in his words. One
day the homeless young man (Paul Dano), who
appears to possess some mysterious healing pow-
ers, shows up and starts healing all the bums,
including Jacques himself. Jacques had suffered
from heart difficulties for many years and spent
almost as much time at the hospital as he did on
his bar.
He grows immensely fond of the young man
and plots to train him up so he can fill his immi-
nent void but things get complicated and don’t
exactly work out as Jacques meant them to.
According to this synopsis, it sounds like
a drama, right? Not so, says the production staff.
They claim it would be a vulgar understatement to
call it a drama. The storyline combines comedy,
tragedy as well as drama and is rather enigmatic.
Their spirit was so determined there didn’t seem
to be any point in objecting.
The filming process has been adventurous
and includes filming at the previous US Naval
Base in Keflavík as well as in Iceland National
Hospital where an actual heart transplant surgery
was caught on tape for the first time, at least for
cinematic purposes. This helps to make The Good
Heart the most expensive Icelandic film made
hitherto, with a budget of 2,6 million Euros.
When asked when the premier could be ex-
pected, the production staff simply hissed, shook
their heads and said they weren’t the right people
to answer that question, and probably nobody
could at this time. Dagur Kári is a little eccentric
they say and he won’t release anything until it’s
completely ready. So whether we will witness the
payoff of this vast filming procedure before this
Christmas or in two years, hopefully it will live up
to its expectations...”

Text by Sigurður Kjartan Kristinsson
The Most Expensive Icelandic Film
“Dagur Kári is a little
eccentric they say and
he won’t release any-
thing until it’s completely
ready. So whether we
will witness the payoff of
this vast filming proce-
dure before this Christ-
mas or in two years,
hopefully it will live up
to its expectations...”