Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2012, Page 2

ARTPOLITICS TRAVEL MUSIC FILM
YOUR FREE COPY THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO LIFE, TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT IN ICELAND
× 2012
September 21
- October 4
Issue 15
That old Nazi
clause...
The writing's on
the wall!
Some tourism staples! Get your Airwaves
Journal on!
RIFF-O-RAMA!
It's safe to say that director Baltasar Kormákur is to Icelandic film what
Sigur Rós is to Icelandic music. After successfully directing the
Hollywood box-oŒice hit 'Contraband', he has returned to Iceland with
the docudrama ‘The Deep'—which details the extraordinary feat of folk
hero Guðlaugur Friðþórsson—already a resounding success. We discuss
film, fatherland and the national psyche with the celebrated director in
our feature interview. Page 20
Complete
Reykjavík Listings
Lots of
cool events+ Download the FREE Grapevine Appy Hour app!Every happy hour in town in your pocket. Available on the App store and on Android Market.
All is going swimmingly for Baltasar Kormákur these days!
Director
Baltasar Kormákur
Emerging
From
The Deep
Hafnarstræti 15, 101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Published by Fröken ehf.
www.froken.is
Member of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent ehf. in 25.000 copies.
Editor in ChiEf:
Haukur S Magnússon / haukur@grapevine.is
Managing Editor:
Anna Andersen / anna@grapevine.is
Journalist:
Mark O' Brien / mark@grapevine.is
Editorial:
+354 540 3600 / editor@grapevine.is
advErtising:
+354 540 3605 / ads@grapevine.is
+354 40 3610
PublishEr:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson / hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601 / publisher@grapevine.is
Contributing WritErs:
Paul Fontaine
Haukur Viðar Alfreðsson
Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson
Jenna Gottlieb
Sigrún Davíðsdóttir
Philippe Beck
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Davíð Roach Gunnarsson
Þórir Bogason
Atli Bollason
Ása Baldursdóttir
Ragnar Egilsson
Kári Tulinius
Valur Gunnarsson
Nic Cavell
Ásgeir H Ingólfsson
Ian Bain
Bob Cluness
Rebecca Louder
Mark Asch
Melanie Franz
Eli Petzold
Editorial intErns:
Arit John / arit@grapevine.is
Journalist
Mark O'Brien / mark@grapevine.is
on-linE nEWs Editor
Paul Fontaine / paul@grapevine.is
art dirECtor:
Hörður Kristbjörnsson / hoddi@grapevine.is
dEsign:
Páll Hilmarsson / pallih@kaninka.net
PhotograPhEr:
Alísa Kalyanova / www. alisakalyanova.com
MusiC ManagEr:
Bob Cluness / bob@grapevine.is
salEs dirECtor:
Aðalsteinn Jörundsson / adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson / helgi@grapevine.is
distribution ManagEr:
distribution@grapevine.is
ProofrEadEr:
Jim Rice
rElEasEs:
listings@grapevine.is
subMissions inquiriEs:
editor@grapevine.is
subsCriPtion inquiriEs:
+354 540 3605 / subscribe@grapevine.is
gEnEral inquiriEs:
grapevine@grapevine.is
foundErs:
Hilmar Steinn Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti Sigurðarson,
Oddur Óskar Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
The Reykjavík Grapevine is published 18 times a year by Fröken
ltd. Monthly from November through April, and fortnightly from
May til October. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in
whole or in part without the written permission of the publish-
ers. The Reykjavík Grapevine is distributed around Reykjavík,
Akureyri, Egilsstaðir, Seyðisfjörður, Borgarnes, Kef lavík,
Ísafjörður and at key locations along road #1, and all major tourist
attractions and tourist information centres in the country.
You may not like it, but at least it's not sponsored (no articles
in the Reykjavík Grapevine are pay-for articles. The opinions
expressed are the writers’ own, not the advertisers’).
Photography by: Baldur Kristjáns
www.baldurkristjans.is
2
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2012
Editorial | Anna Andersen Music | Free
Jara’s fictionalized “biography” describes her as a
Báthory family descendent, a suspense thriller writer, a
Jamaican, a possible serial killer, the Princess of Math-
ematicians and, lastly, a musician. It’s bizarre, but after
listening to “Hope” it seems slightly less fabricated, as if
she’s recounting the exploits of her previous reincarna-
tions. Listening to this track is a little bit like connecting
with a couple of your own past lives, but only the cool
ones. As for Jara in the present day, she’s whimsical,
a bit exotic, upbeat and esoteric, especially when you
consider her lyrics. We’re not exactly sure what she
means by “I’m silver, I am golden/ I’m everything there
is,” but she seems to know and that’s good enough for
us.
Hope
Jara
Download the FREE track at www.grapevine.is
TRACK OF
THE ISSUE
Download your
free track at
grapevine.is
Lost In Translation Anna’s 16th Editorial
This month marks the four-year anniver-
sary of Iceland’s economic collapse
of October 2008. In that time, as
Sigrún Davíðsdóttir recounts
on page 14, Iceland has gone
from being a “financial bas-
ket case” to an “economic
miracle.” At least that’s what
the international media re-
ports.
Based on anecdotal evi-
dence, the media has also been
keen on reporting that Iceland’s
creative sectors have f lourished.
Whether or not the crash has had any-
thing to do with a proliferation in the arts, it has
certainly been a subject of inspiration, as director
Baltasar Kormákur attests in our feature interview
on page 21.
At the premiere of his film ‘Djúpið,’ which is
based on the true and inspiring survival story of an
Icelandic fisherman whose ship went down in the
dead of winter, Baltasar told the audience that he
wanted to make a film that dealt with the crash, but
not a film about people losing all of their money,
a film that went deeper, reflecting on the national
identity.
Still, it somehow caught me off guard when the
film began in Icelandic. It wasn’t so much because
I think of Baltasar as the Hollywood director that he
is fast becoming, but because it is just so rare to see
films in Icelandic.
Iceland’s film industry may be growing, but the
majority of films and TV shows shown in Iceland
have been and still are imported and subtitled. In
fact, Icelanders often credit growing up on Ameri-
can TV for their ability to speak such great English.
When TV came to Iceland, efforts were made to
combat the influence of the English language. And
one could argue that if something is most central to
the national identity, it is the Icelandic language.
Although average Icelanders cannot easily
read their Old Sagas, the Icelandic language has
changed little from Old Norse when compared to
other Scandinavian languages. This is because
Iceland was for many years isolated from main-
land Europe and there has been a focus on creating
new Icelandic words rather than adopt-
ing English words into the Icelandic
language.
Despite a preoccupation with
preserving the Icelandic lan-
guage, translators hired to
subtitle foreign material
for Icelandic films, TV and
videos have not always been
that great and even today,
translations can be creative—
sometimes too creative. We are
talking about gaffes like “Not on
my watch” translated as “Nei, ekki
úrið mitt!” (“No, not my wristwatch”) or
a computer “hard drive” translated as “áköf lön-
gun” (“vehement desire”), to name a few examples
collected by author and writer Gísli Ásgeirsson.
It’s quite possible that we’ve made some out-
landish translations in the last nine years of print-
ing an English language magazine in Iceland and
we could probably dig those up, but why do that
when we have fresh example on hand from the Ice-
landic media.
Said example, which appeared on mbl.is, was
based on a story “Jessica Biel: Justin excels at ev-
erything” (Belfast Telegraph). In a grave misunder-
standing, mbl.is ran with the headline, “Couldn’t
Live Without Excel Spreadsheets,” even elaborating
that “Justin Timberlake can’t get through the day
without making a plan in Excel and following it…”
Well. It’s a good thing that we have some pro-
fessionally trained translators out there. And it just
so happens that this month marks the eighth anni-
versary of The Icelandic Association of Translators
and Interpreters, who will celebrate the Day of the
Translator on September 30. So Happy Day of the
Translator to them!
What’s The Deal With
Those Crazy Icelandic
Letters Yo?
Here Is Your Kreisí Æcelandic Frase For Þis Issue!
ÞþÆæÖö
æ
ð
þ
We thought we’d explain. We’re ripping the idea off from
the Icelandair magazine. Go read that magazine if you
can. It’s free.
We like spelling things using Icelandic letters like
‘æ’ and ‘þ’ and also those crazy accents over the vowels.
Like Icelandair’s inflight magazine—IcelandairInfo—says,
the Icelandic language can use accents on all of the
vowels, making them look all unique, like this: á, é, í, ó,
ú, ö, ý (the accent also changes the pronounciation of
the letters. The á in “kjáni” sounds quite different from
the a in “asni”, for instance). We also have an additional
three letters. As IcealandairInfo notes:
(often written as ae) is pronounced like
the i in tide.
(often written as d) is pronounced like
the th in there
(often written as th) is pronounced like
the th in think”
“Sæl frú mín góð! Hvar er eiginlega þetta
Bláa lón sem allir eru að tala um?”
(Saah-iihl froo meen goeth! Quarh ehr ay-
yin-lehgha thett-tah Bl-ow-ah lone sehm
ah-dlir eh-ruh aeth tahwla uuhm?)
Greetings, madam! Where can I find this
Blue Lagoon that everyone keeps talking
about?
fontana.is
Your
element
• Steam rooms
• Thermal baths
• Sauna
Laugarvatn Fontana is composed of a series of interconnected outdoor mineral baths and steam rooms,
built over natural hot spring that Icelanders have used for bathing since year 1929.
The ideal stop between Thingvellir and Geysir
– daily tours by Reykjavik Excursions
Welcome to a true, authentic Icelandic experience!
Open daily
E
N
N
E
M
M
/
S
ÍA