Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.07.2008, Blaðsíða 28

28 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 09—2008
INTERVIEW By Sveinn Birkir BJörnSSon — pHoto By gaS
ARTICLE By Haukur S. MagnúSSon
Cosy is a word that gets thrown around a lot. A lot
more than it should actually. But sometimes, it is
just the right word to describe a place that feels...
well, cosy. One of those places that truly is cosy
is Hemmi and Valdi’s Colonial Store on Laugav-
egur 21. Now, colonial store, on the other hand, is
not a word (well, phrase really) that does not get
thrown around a lot. In prehistoric times (i.e. be-
fore the 20th century), a colonial store was a place
where you could buy imported groceries from the
colonial masters. In our case this involved Den-
mark, and probably sugar. The modern day ver-
sion, however, involves beer and baby clothes.
But no colonial masters luckily.
“We were just looking for a good idea to ex-
ecute,” Valdi, one of the owners tells me. The idea
they hit upon was to establish a family friendly
café / baby clothes store, where they could sell
cheap refreshments (and baby clothes) in a re-
laxed setting for the whole family. The store is
located in an old house with big storefront win-
dows, filled with old furniture that looks like it
belongs in your grandmother’s living room. Valdi
and Hemmi, who are both young fathers, wanted
to create a place where the grown-ups could sit
down without having to worry about the children
being bored after fifteen minutes. “We put a lot
into making this a comfortable for the whole fam-
ily,” Valdi explains.
But after dark (well, it is summer in Iceland,
but you know what I am getting at), the place trans-
forms into a nice little bar where the beer sells for
a modest 550 ISK and a bottle of red wine for 1900
ISK. “We pack up the baby clothes at night and
move on to the beer. The thinking is that during
the day, this should be a place for the whole fam-
ily, but in the evenings, this should be a place for
the parents to come and relax,” Valdi says.
The reception has been excellent and plans
are already underway to expand the operation.
“We have been scheduling jazz nights on Mon-
days and Tuesdays, we are running a small market
outside, and we are looking into getting people to
come and do face paint a few days a weeks for the
kids and putting up football goals in the port be-
hind the house,” says Valdi. Every Friday and Sat-
urday there is a musical performance, either a live
band or a DJ, and the to-do list includes dances
for elderly citizens in and a troubadour festival on
July 17.
Hemmi & Valdi
Nýlenduvöruverslun
Laugavegur 21
Documentary Kjötborg was pre-
viewed at the Skjaldborg film
festival this spring, where it won
over the hearts of the audience,
along with the festival’s sole
award (an “audience award”, as
it were). It was recently screened
in Háskólabíó to great critical
and commercial response and will
ultimately make its way to local
television and DVD releases later
this year. Furthermore, it is being
shopped around to various inter-
national film festivals, where it
will surely win many other awards
and go on to greater international
success.
Set in Vesturbær institution-slash-convenience
store Kjötborg (“Meat City”!), the eponymous film
documents the life of the store, its owners (broth-
ers Gunnar and Kristján) and some of its patrons.
A neighbourhood shop if there ever was one,
Kjötborg stocks pretty much everything its custom-
ers could ever need in its cramped quarters (and
the proprietors will go to every length to acquire
whatever’s missing) and has been servicing the
community of Vesturbær for several decades. The
brothers make sure to pander to their customers’
every need, delivering sandwiches to hunger strik-
ing mutineers at the old folks home and ensuring
a regular has enough chewing gum and chocolate
after closing time (a popular story not included in
the film goes that the Kjötborg brothers actually
arranged one of their regulars’ funeral).
The film features the brothers reminiscing
about various milestones in Kjötborg’s history and
times they’ve had whilst running it, interspersed
with candid shots of daily life within the store
and interviews with select patrons. Shot over the
course of a year (2006), we follow the Kjötborg
brothers through the seasons, slowly getting the
impression that something deeply important is
being lost as the last of the neighbourhood stores
fight a losing battle against more efficient models
of consumption. Ultimately, Kjötborg is a por-
trait of a nation that has undergone some severe
changes in a short amount of time and what those
changes mean; it is a reflection on Icelanders’
shifting values and aspirations, where they may
be leading us and what we may be losing in the
process.
Kjötborg is bound to see lots of success, for it is
the kind of film that stays with you for a long time
after an initial viewing. It manages to raise thoughts
and make some very valid points without ever mak-
ing an argument or reverting to any of the various
propagandist tools available to filmmakers on a
mission (even if it definitely has some tearjerker
moments). It draws you in with its combination of
steady cinematic rhythm, pleasant views and care-
fully placed music (by the excellent Sindri Már of
Seabear fame) and refuses to let you go without
giving some thought to what’s being discussed.
Directors Helga Rakel Rafnsdóttir and Hulda Rós
Guðnadóttir deserve all the praise that’s coming to
them. Kjötborg is an entertaining, yet engaging film
and comes highly recommended.
A Cosy Colonial Store
Lamenting a Dying Model
Hemmi and Valdi want your whole family there
Kjötborg shows how Icelanders have sacrificed community for krónur
Hemmi & valdi Get cosy.
We pack up tHe BaBy clotHeS at
nigHt and Move on to tHe Beer.
NAME
Kjötborg
DIRECTED BY
Helga Rakel Rafnsdóttir and
Hulda Rós Guðnadóttir
MuSIC BY
Sindri Már Sigfússon
RuNNING TIME
47 minutes
ultiMately, kJötBorg iS a por-
trait oF a nation tHat HaS under-
gone SoMe Severe cHangeS in a
SHort aMount oF tiMe and WHat
tHoSe cHangeS Mean; a reFlec-
tion on icelanderS’ SHiFting
valueS and aSpirationS, WHere
tHey May Be leading uS and WHat
We May Be loSing in tHe proceSS.
Due to popular demand, Kjötborg will be
screened at Háskólabíó this coming week-
end, English subtitles and all. Don’t fret if
you missed it though; this “popular demand”
has been keeping Kjötborg in theatres for a
while now.”