Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.05.2012, Síða 10

10
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 5 — 2012
Set in late ‘90s Reykjavík,
blockbuster ‘Black’s Game’
purports to shed a light on a
lesser-known side of innocent
ol’ Iceland, one where crimi-
nals, drug dealers and violent
berserkers run amok, raising
hell, terrorising people and
engaging in sexy orgies to a
soundtrack of old pop music. It
is already one of the most suc-
cessful Icelandic movies ever,
and it has been lauded for its
‘stark realism.’
We, your friends at the Grapevine,
usually don’t like to hang out in
those circles, so we have no idea
whether those claims are true. We
asked some guys who are famil-
iar with Reykjavík’s underworld to
review it for realism. Jón H. Hall-
grímz (AKA Jón Stóri) has battled
with demons through his life and
was once arrested in connection
to one of Iceland’s bigger drug
cases, elements of which report-
edly inspired ‘Black’s Game’ (he
hasn’t been convicted for any-
thing since then) and is known
to be outspoken on the subject
of crime in Iceland. Ævar Örn
Guðjónsson also speaks from ex-
perience; he was once deeply in-
volved in the underworld but has
turned the page and now focuses
on helping others. He is described
by his friend Jón as “a stand-up
citizen that will give you the shirt
right off his back.”
Together they went to the
movies. Read on for their assess-
ment.
ÆVAR AND jÓN’S CRIME AS-
SESSMENT OF BLACK’S GAME
IS THUS
We give the movie 4.5 stars.
First off, we would have start-
ed by beating up Brúnó (Damon
Younger), as he is a skinny, two-
bit loser that no one likes. If you
are going to run a crime syndi-
cate, everyone in the inner circle
needs to look up to you and like
you; you don’t last long by intimi-
dating your co-workers.
Brúnó couldn’t survive for
long in our old world, because
everyone would turn against him
quickly. He would be taken on a
so-called ‘car ride’ and after that
he would crawl to rehab, crying
the whole way.
If you’re at the top, you can
shit all over those who are way
below you in the pecking order,
but never on your peers—that will
break up the sense of fraternity
that keeps things together and
running smoothly. This is some-
thing Brúnó would need to learn,
probably the hard way.
Tóti (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhan-
nesson) is a guy that we definitely
would have allowed to party with
us, a fun and brutal cat. Jóhannes
has the looks and mannerisms
down to a tee and gives the most
realistic performance out of any-
one in the movie. Skál to you,
Jóhannes, one of the best—if not
the best—crime actors in Iceland!
The second most realistic
character is Robbi Rotta (Vignir
Rafn Valþórsson). Definitely a
guy that would never go far in this
world, no matter who he knew, a
punk like him would maybe be al-
lowed to be a small time dealer,
but never anything beyond that.
As Sævar K., Gillzenegger
depicts a character that we have
often come across. Still, the dif-
ference between Sævar K. as
played by Gillzenegger and a real
psycho is huge. When a real psy-
cho maniac tells you that you’re
disgusting, it echoes in your
soul—and if you’re not completely
insane yourself, you will accept
his words without a sound.
However, when Gillz tells you
you’re disgusting you just think,
“yeaaaah right, a beefy Páll Óskar
is trying to intimidate me...” He
didn’t manage to portray a vola-
tile psycho more realistically than
that, unfortunately.
Dagný (María Birta) is the girl
you hate to love. Very frequently
you’ll see a girl like that pop up
in a group of friends and break
it up in a short time—friends will
fistfight and stop talking because
of a beautiful junky ho that only
wants two things: drugs and
money.
But when a girl like Dagný
doesn’t get the drugs or money
she wants, she’ll use her beauty
to destroy gullible and drugged
up individuals. A woman like her
never stops for long in the same
group of friends, because people
see through her in the end.
The cops in the movie uttered
a classic sentence that everyone
in the underworld knows and
dreads: “Would you come talk to
us for a bit?”
Regarding the underworld or-
ganisation portrayed in the movie,
it gives criminals too much credit.
Nothing is that planned: it’s mostly
driven by drug use, greed and power-
hunger, just like a politician is driven by
his or her greed.
Still, the criminal will think through
his moves with a care that most people
learn in jail, as Iceland’s prison, Litla
Hraun, is the criminal’s best school.
The paranoia that arises from days
upon days of staying up also ensures
that they are careful when selling their
drugs.
There is only one rule: don’t get
caught. However, after months of par-
tying you stop thinking straight and
rationally, and that’s when people in
this world make their mistakes. That’s
when all their thoughts revolve around
drugs and money, all feelings of friend-
ship and mutual respect have vanished
and everyone has turned into a chief-
tain that nobody likes or trusts.
But kids, there is nothing exciting
about this world. Do everything you
can to avoid it. Some of us don’t have
that option, some of us are born into
this kind of shit and there is nothing
cool about that.
Underworlds | Fact or fiction
IS ‘BLACK’S GAME’ A REALISTIC DEPICTION?
Words
Ævar Örn Guðjónsson and
Jón H. Hallgrímz
Photography
Facebook / Svartur á leik
-Our two-man panel of experts isn't so sure...
“But kids, there is nothing exciting about this
world. Do everything you can to avoid it.”
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Telephone: +354 580 9900 Ice@mountaineers.is • www.mountaineers.is • www. activity.is
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