Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.02.2006, Blaðsíða 33
When is an Icelandic film not an Icelandic film? That is the
most important question raised by A Little Trip To Heaven
the latest movie by Baltasar Kormákur, the acclaimed director
of 101 Reykjavík. Sure, the movie was produced by Sigurjón
Sighvatsson; sure, it features real Iceland. But it is not an
Icelandic movie, there are no ties to the country; hell, Iceland
is not even mentioned. Maybe this is a step in the right
direction, however.
I have long been an advocate of shooting movies in
Iceland. The countryside has some of the most breathtaking
landscapes around (and I don’t mean the standard shooting
location of glaciers and frozen lakes with icebergs; I mean real
Iceland) with vast vistas and breathtaking ruggedness. This is
the movie I have been waiting for in that regard.
However...it could have been slightly more interesting.
Forest Whitaker plays Abe Holt a ‘law suggestor’ who is sent
to North Hastings to examine a car crash. When he stumbles
onto an obvious murder scene, he follows the leads the police
are blind to because of North Hastings’ small town nature.
There is one twist, however, it is too obvious right from the
start of the movie.
For a limited Icelandic release, Little Trip is everything
an Icelandic movie is, and should always be – beautiful to
look at, and it reminds us of home. But this movie is not
just intended for an Icelandic audience. It is being marketed
mainly as a Forest Whitaker and Julia Stiles movie. That is
where it falls flat on its face. It doesn’t have the oomph to
make it outside Iceland. Sure the acting is quality stuff; Forest
Whitaker and Julia Stiles are both great actors who don’t bow
down to Hollywood pressure, even though once upon a time
Forest Whitaker had a higher billing than Johnny Depp. It is
just that there is something missing.
The camera work is breathtaking and on the basis of this
Baltasar can make it as a successful director outside of Iceland,
and I don’t believe it will be too long before he takes the lens
of a big budget picture from Hollywood. His eye for beauty
in something that has limited obvious beauty is amazing – it
was shown mildly in 101 Reykjavík and shown stunningly in
Hafið. But what the film makes up for in imagery, it lacks
in script depth. You don’t end up caring for the characters,
for the most part they are shallow and two-dimensional, and
by the end I had discovered that I really didn’t care if Isold
(Stiles) got the money or not. In fact you wonder why the
police hadn’t got more involved on a larger scale; of course,
that could be made up for in a sequel... A Little Trip to Hell
anyone?
On the whole the best thing to come out of the movie was
the music by Mugison; he is an accomplished composer who
brought real soul to the movie. When it came time to leave
the cinema, my general impression was, the A Little Trip To
Heaven was ok, but could have been so much more.
A Little T
rip to He
aven
By James Davis-Mann
ReykjavikGrapevine_125x195_FEB2006.indd 1 2/3/2006 09:31:56