Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.12.2018, Síða 38

Accidental
Ghosts
‘Mihkel’ is Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon’s
dramatisation of a grisly true-crime tale
Words: Mulan Photo: Provided by the director
Movie
‘Mihkel’ is out now.
In 2004, a body was found weight-
ed down in an abandoned har-
bour near the east Iceland town
of Neskaupstaður. The ensuing
investigation revealed 61 carefully
packaged capsules in the corpse’s
stomach—amphetamine laced
with cruor. The body had been
wrapped in a blanket and tossed
into an obscure stretch of the
fjord. Nobody was reported miss-
ing in the local community. It was
a mystery.
Some sort of ghost
The victim, of course, had a name.
The body turned out to be that of
Vaidas Jucevicius—a Lithuanian
national. This grisly sequence of
events—and the untangling of
what led to Vaidas’s death and its
concealment—is dramatised in
Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon’s
new film, ‘Mihkel’ (‘Undir Halast-
jörnu’ in Icelandic, or ‘Under the
Comet’).
“The nation of Iceland is like
a family,” says Ari. “There was a
dead body, yet no one from the
community was missing. This
meant that the body belonged to
an outsider. There was a sigh of
relief that it was a foreigner.”
The body was found, in a twist
of fate, by a diver
in an unused har-
bour. “This ele-
ment of chance
haunts me,” the
director goes on.
“The guy who con-
fessed to the crime
obviously felt bad
a b o ut it . T h ey
were unlucky that
a diver happened to go into Ne-
skaupstaður harbour the follow-
ing day. It’s just unbelievable—no-
body was even using this harbour
anymore. It was some sort of a
ghost. It was never supposed to
happen. None of this was.”
Misunderstood film
Known for his documentaries,
the director describes ‘Mihkel’ as
a “misunderstood” film amongst
his works. “I guess there’s no truth
in life, but it is true that as an art-
ist you are hungry for creation,”
he says. "People know me for my
documentaries, as a person who
makes films about artists. That
may be why Icelanders think ‘Mih-
kel’ must be seen as a documenta-
ry. But it is a film that explores the
events taking place during 2004
through the historical and politi-
cal dimensions, weaving through
the relationship of the West with
Estonia and Russia.”
Scheme gone wrong
As it turns out, Vaidas’ death was
the result a smuggling operation
gone wrong, and a truly tragic sto-
ry. Shortly after touching down in
Iceland, Vaidas—renemed Mihkel
in the film—began to complain of
abdominal pains,
and was unable
to pass the bag of
capsules he had
swallowed. As the
days passed, Vai-
das and his two
Icelandic partners
in crime agonised
over what to do,
deciding that they
could not take him to a hospital,
lest their smuggling attempt be
found out.
Unfortunately, Vaidas’ con-
dition only worsened, and he
eventually died. His partners, in
an attempt to cover their tracks,
opted to toss his body into Ne-
skaupsstaður harbour. But when
the body was discovered, it blew
the lid off the whole operation.
Between friends
“What is murder between two
friends?” Ari contemplates out
loud.
Since 2011, Iceland has held the
title for being the safest nation in
the world, according to the Glob-
al Peace Index. Nevertheless, this
“murder between friends” result-
ed in a 30 month conviction, only
half of which was served. As the
ripples of this wretched case fade
away with time, Ari’s film is a jar-
ring reminder that these events
are a cautionary tale perhaps best
best kept alive in the public con-
sciousness.
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Ari and Fahad, his co-director, on set
The film stars breakout Icelandic star Tómas Lemarquis
“I guess there’s
no truth in life,
but it is true that
as an artist you
are hungry for
creation.”
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