Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.06.2014, Blaðsíða 37

37The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 06 — 2014 FILM
I\ZPZ
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‘Life in a Fishbowl’ tells the interlocking
stories of Sölvi, an ex-footballer turned
bankster (yes, in Iceland the gangsters
mostly used to work in banks), Eik, a kin-
dergarten teacher who moonlights as a
call girl, and Móri, a writer turned bum.
It’s a triptych whose celluloid DNA has a
lot in common with films such as ‘Amores
Perros’ and ‘Magnolia.’ And those sorts
of interlocking stories lend themselves
perfectly to the reali-
ties of a micro-society
like Iceland, a place
small enough to make
accidental encoun-
ters quite frequent.
This means narrative
devices that may be
contrived in cities of
millions function quite
normally here—in this little fishbowl, peo-
ple keep bumping into each other.
In comparison with the aforemen-
tioned films, which are quite bleak, ‘Life
in a Fishbowl’ is a bit more optimistic. The
film might be a tragedy, but it’s a com-
forting one. This is in line with the Icelan-
dic title of the film, “Vonarstræti,” which
translates to “Hope Street.” The name is
not just metaphorical though; this street,
which Móri lives on actually exists in the
heart of Reykjavík, just by City Hall and
the Iðnó theatre.
Director Baldvin Z continues to de-
velop a cinematic style that can be seen
in his film ‘Jitters’—a style full of dark
frames, but with a warm and poetic
darkness which protects the characters
rather than puts them in jeopardy. It’s
vaguely realistic and yet is still slightly
dreamlike. Baldvin’s biggest asset as a
director, though, is simply the respect he
has for every single character. This was
a true godsend in ‘Jitters’—as few genres
suffer more from condescending story-
telling then the teenage film. In ‘Life In A
Fishbowl,’ the best example is Sölvi’s wife,
Agnes. She may seem the quintessential
trophy wife at first, and her fate is in some
ways typical of the stock character she
represents, but this particular trophy wife
is full of character and
wit, so the audience
doesn’t get a free
pass to forgive Sölvi’s
sins towards her.
But while Eik and
Sölvi are well-drawn
characters, this film
will primarily be re-
membered for one
person. With poet-bum Móri, actor Þor-
steinn Bachmann has helped create
one of Icelandic cinema’s most iconic
characters. The film smartly introduces
him through the sceptical eyes of disap-
proving fellow citizens, which means the
audience is just as distrustful of him as
the other characters are. But Móri never
falls into the stock clichés of the bum—
this is a real person, despite his alcohol-
ism. Þorsteinn’s portrayal is nearly flaw-
less and a continuation of solid character
work in films such as ‘Stormland’ and
‘Either Way.’ In a sense, he’s turning into
the Icelandic Alec Baldwin: Both seemed
primed for leading man status early on
in their careers, but didn’t really hit their
stride until they shed their leading man
skin for the character actor within. And
Móri certainly sheds a few skins before
the film is over.
Words
Ásgeir H Ingólfsson
“Director Baldvin Z con-
tinues to develop a cin-
ematic style that can be
seen in his film ‘Jitters’—a
style full of dark frames.”
‘Life in a Fishbowl’ deals with a rather recent past that is
strangely forgotten, or at least often misrepresented. The
scene is Reykjavík during the boom years of 2005 and
2006—a time we’ve tended to exaggerate post-crash. We
now tend to portray this as a time when everybody was
drinking gold-dust champagne and eating caviar, but this
wasn’t really the case. The reality of those boom years is
more accurately depicted by this film, which deals with
three characters—two of them only occasionally crashing
the party—even if they will, of course, eventually pay for it
and have to clean up the mess.
Icelandic Boom
Years In A Fishbowl
In A Fishbowl
www.midi.is
Vonarstræti is playing in Laugarásbíó,
Háskólabíó, Smárabíó and Borgarbíó