Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.09.2009, Page 8

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2009
These past few years Scandinavians
have been busy re-examining their
history on screen. The Finns have
given us the masterpiece Border 1918,
which looks at the very founding of
their republic and comes up with some
pretty dark stuff. No less brave is the
Danish Flammen og Citronen, which
deals with the Danish resistance and
finds it not all-heroic. The Norwegians,
however, came up with Max Manus,
their most expensive film to date.
While visually impressive, it fails to
deal with less flattering aspects of the
occupation, such as local cooperation
in the rounding up of Jews. Instead,
we get a film that was more Heroes of
Telemark than a reappraisal such as
the Danes managed.
LOVE IN A COLD WAR
Icekiss, which is screened at this year’s
RIFF, deals with a more uncomfortable
subject. Tens of thousands of Russian
POW’s were sent to Northern
Norway to do slave labour during the
occupation. After the war ended, they
were sent back to Russia, despite
rumours that Stalin would immediately
deport them to Siberia for the crime of
surrendering to the Germans. The film
tells the story of a Norwegian nurse
who falls in love with an inmate. She
meets him again when working for
the Norwegian foreign office in the
Soviet Union, and out of love decides
to betray her own country. The film’s
perspective, where we are made to feel
for the nurse who is one of Norway’s
best know traitors, is a daring one.
Largely shot in St. Petersburg,
the communist headquarters are
juxtaposed with an image through
the mist of Oslo’s city hall, and one
can hardly tell the difference. An
interesting piece about the inhumanity
of the Cold War, although the non-
linear storytelling grates a little.
General Patton said something along
the lines of war making all other
human endeavours seem insignificant.
I would make the same argument for
art, and a slew of films from Sweden
and Denmark deal with artists.
CONTROLLED ANARCHISM
First, there is the documentary Am I
Black Enough for You? from Sweden.
In fact, it has very little to do with
Sweden, as it focuses on Philadelphia
singer Billy Paul. He had a number 1
hit in 1972 with Me and Mrs. Jones,
but his next single, from which the
film takes its title, effectively ended
his mainstream career. The film is an
interesting overview of a little known
piece of popular music history.
Probably better known, at least around
these parts, is the Roskilde festival.
It perhaps says something about the
Danes that they have managed to pull
of this annual bit of controlled chaos
for almost forty years now. It seems
that the hippie experiment still lives
on in Denmark, in Roskilde and in
Christiania. The Danes have a knack
for combining the Scandinavian’s gift
for organising with a more continental
happy-go-lucky attitude. The result
can be seen at the festival, where
once a year people get to go and let
it all hang out. Whether the results
seem like your idea of heaven or hell
probably depends on your interests.
There are some decent, if brief, music
segments with the likes of Placebo,
Sigurrós and Sonic Youth. But the real
stars are the festival goers, who seem
to be every bit as imaginative as the
people on stage. By the fourth day it all
breaks down and people’s destructive
spirit shines through. Anarchism, it
seems, only works in small doses. But
there’s always next year...
NO SkIN OFF My BACk
Somewhat more scripted is the movie
Applaus, about an acclaimed actress
with alcohol and other personal
problems who acts in a play about
a woman with alcohol and other
personal problems. Whether actress
Paprika Steen is in any way playing
herself we dare not venture, but
moving between the play and her
miserable personal life is an effective
storytelling ploy. The Danes seem to
be incapable of making bad films, and
Applaus is no exception. One of the
films more moving scenes is when the
aging actress admires the hands of a
younger staff member.
South of the border, the Germans have
devoted a whole movie to the subject.
In Bandaged, a teenage girl is locked
in her house and tries to commit
suicide by throwing acid on her face.
As it happens, her father is a plastic
surgeon who tries to create new skin
for her. He hires a nurse to take care
of her, and she and the daughter fall
in love. She is the younger woman
admiring the older one’s skin, and it
makes for an interesting juxtaposition
with the Danish offering.
Interview | Skapofsi Film | The Reykjavík International FIlm Festival
Skin and bones
An Overview of some of the films
from this year’s RIFF
So we're unsure what to think of these militant activists. While splashing
some paint around may seem harmless enough, imagine the atmosphere if
they continue to step their game up. That's scary.
LOUISE PETERSSON VALUR GUNNARSSON
Welcome to Iceland
Here’s how to find
www.ja.is
WHAT?
WHO? WHERE?
People Businesses Maps Direction
Quick guide to the information
you need while enjoying your stay
By now we were well known, so we decided to go for the big time,
interviewing the President, as well as former prez Vigdís Finnbo-
gadóttir and other contenders. Ironically, the cover model is not a
political player, but our advertising manager’s old man. Robert did a
good job with the interviews. However, the elections were the day
after the issue came out, so it seemed dated from the bat. That’s
the problem with being biweekly. This is also the first issue where
Hörður has a topical design for “Your Free Copy!” which became
something of an in-joke. VG
A New Jerseyan by the name of Padraig Mara had this thing for
Rokk í Reykjavík, so I decided to let him track down the survivors
of that classic. The idea here was to have a punk wearing a suit, as
in what they were doing 20 years on. I’m not sure the idea came off
too well, but it looks ok. Padraig was also doing a lot of fun stories
about his previous jobs in Iceland that gave the rag some colour. VG
This time, we wanted to be on time, so the issue came out a week
or two ahead of Gay Pride. Hörður wanted to have two girls instead
of two guys. As with most of the covers, he had his way. Þorvaldur
Kristinsson and Marcie Hume wrote about the history of the gay civil
rights movement in Iceland. VG
#9 - Issue 3 - 2004
Grapevine 101
#10 - Issue 4 - 2004
#11 - Issue 5 - 2004
A wave of militant activism has washed
over Reykjavík in the past of months.
Enraged by the fact that the Icelandic
public inherited the debts caused by
prominent businessmen, some activists
have decided it’s payback time.
Targets have been cars and homes
belonging to our banksters (AKA
Financial Vikings), those who are by
many considered responsible for the
country’s economic collapse. Their
weapon of choice has been red paint, their
actions: Splattering coats of red paint on
singled-out vehicles and houses. Among
the affected are: billionaire Björgólfur
Thor Björgólfsson, former Kaupthing
chairman Sigurður Einarsson, director
of Íslandsbanki (formerly Glitnir) Birna
Einarsdóttir and the former CFO of
Baugur Group Stefán Hilmarsson.
The actions were photographed
and sent to the media by an individual
identifying as ‘Skapofsi’ (“RAGE”), who
claims to mediate information from
the responsible parties. We contacted
‘Skapofsi’ to see if s/he could forward
some of our questions to whoever’s
painting cars out there. S/he sent us
the following statement (that we have
translated for your reading pleasures), as
well as some answers that we’ve printed
as they came (no proofing or editing). So,
this is what it’s come to. Fancy that.
“The Icelandic public is in denial,
political parties and their henchmen
make sure to steer the media discourse
in a way that holds back the furious
Icelandic public that will inherit both debt
and damage from the banksters. Writing
off the banksters’ debt is packaged and
served to the public like nothing could
be more natural. The collapse-people’s
renaissance moves steadily forward
under the wing of the political parties.
It is wrong to say that the public will
pay for cleaning paint splashes off the
banksters’ houses, no insurance policy
covers such damage, unless maybe they
still control the insurance companies. We
will continually toughen our actions until
the government punishes the collapse’s
main guilty parties, and seizes ALL of
their “properties,” to divide between a
nation enslaved by political cliques and
their henchmen.
A limp investigation and angry
bloggers will not serve to put these men
behind bars. Thus, we ask the populace
to rise up and drive these banksters from
the country, or straight to jail. We must
prevent the Icelandic nation from paying
the debt of these unfortunate men.”
what do you wish to achieve by
splashing red paint on houses and
cars?
Painting houses is OK, because the
Financial Vikings have to pay the
damages themselves. No insurance
company can cover the damage. We are
however very upset that one guy in our
group, without notice, painted Björgólfur
Thor’s Hummer. That damage the
insurance will pay. So no car will be
painted anymore.
do you think that your actions
will have any direct effects?
It will open the eyes of the people
in Iceland. It will also show the media
overseas that one of biggest banking
swindles in European history was created
in Iceland by 60 men.
is it defensible to attack private
property and individuals?
Do not say attack, these people have
attacked our homes and families so the
people have to pay back. The government
in power is covering the act of crime they
have committed to our beautiful country.
what good do you see these
actions doing for icelandic society?
It will raise awareness that criminal
acts have been committed in our country
by these stupid people - in front of the
eyes of the political parties.
in what way will your activities
become more aggressive unless the
offenders are punished?
We will see.
Paint-Splashing Activists
Come Forward
“RISE UP!” they say
1. The House of Hreiðar Már, ex-CEO
of kaupthing Bank