Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.04.2013, Blaðsíða 15

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. apríl 2013 • 15
In mid March, my husband and I joined about 40 people to watch the Icelandic movie Tears of Stone, by film director Hilmar Oddsson, at
the Scandinavian Centre in Winnipeg. Sponsored
by the Icelandic Canadian Frón, it offered us a
meaningful night out. A small donation towards
the building of a cabinet to house the Frón’s
Jólasveinar puppets turned out to be a real
bargain for a movie, coffee and cake.
The movie, a biopic of Jón Leifs, one of
Iceland’s most famous composers, kept the
audience’s attention right until the end. Filmed
in Iceland and Germany, it is set during the ’30s
just before World War II when Nazism was
rising.
Jón Leifs, a composer of “modern music”
was born in 1899 in Sólheimar, Svínavatnssókn,
Húnavatnasssýsla, Iceland. While living in
Germany, he married concert pianist Annie
Riethof, the daughter of a Jewish industrialist
with whom he had two daughters.
The film portrays a man who is frustrated
musically, socially and personally. Jón Leifs is
a passionate composer, but must be practical
in order to make a living. His music is not
appreciated in Germany nor in Iceland when
he returns. Indeed, his music received more
attention in Iceland after the release of Tears of
Stone in 1995. Jón’s wife and children, because
of their Jewish heritage are vulnerable in Nazi
Germany. Thus, in order to help his family
escape to find a new home, Leifs must make
some tough compromises. The family is able
to escape, but not without collateral damage to
their relationships.
Although the movie is somewhat uneven in
its production, some of the most visually exciting
parts are the wonderfully photographed scenes
of Iceland’s forces of nature which are used as a
backdrop for Leifs’ dramatic music. As director
Hilmar Oddsson opines, “The Icelandic heart
can be neither understood nor interpreted except
in connection with the forces of nature, earth
and sky, and the rough though bountiful seas
that restlessly surge about the land. Leifs’ music
is unclassifiable ... he stands alone amidst an
ocean of ideas, somewhere between or beyond
the composer’s mainland. He seeks his material
from the harsh nature of the historic island that
is Iceland”.
Also memorable are Jón’s touching moments
with his youngest daughter, Lif, to whom he
tells the child’s story, Tears of Stone. The story is
about a lost troll who is searching for his home,
but must reach it before dawn or turn to stone.
Before the troll reaches home, the rays of the
sun come out turning the troll and his one tear
to stone. Jón claims the stone he carries in his
pocket is the troll’s tear and tells Lif that the
person carrying it will always find their way
home. Unfortunately, this was not to be so for
Leifs’ family.
Tears of Stone provided us with an
opportunity to add to our knowledge both of
Icelandic culture and history.
Tears of Stone Movie Review
Karen Botting
Winnipeg, MB
On Feb. 28, 2013, Lestrarfélagið Gleym-mér-ei discussed the work of John K. Samson in his book,
Lyrics and Poems 1997-2012. It is a small
book with a unique cover design and is
divided into sections by black paper. Can
the cover lines stand for sound waves
and books? Could the poems be the two
additional units in the first sections?
Some of the assembled agreed that
the first read of the book was better by
starting with the last section named
Provincial. The poems/lyrics there were
perhaps from an older mind of John K.
in 2012 rather than the ones beginning in
1997. The word “generational” was used
by us. A generation is 20/30 years and
would describe the distance in time from
John K. to the group.
One of our first
discussions was on the
words lyrics and poems.
Can lyrics be poetry? The
meanings were changing
with Bob Dylan in the
1960s. On a recent
CBC radio show, the
statement made was
that Leonard Cohen
was not a good poet
until the music was
added to the poem.
In a 2001 interview,
John K. stated that
he didn’t think that his songs
could be defined as poetry because of the
music. In 2012, Larry Livermore noted
that the defining characteristics of poetry
are rhyme, meter and imagery. These are
all found in the work of John K. while not
as much in modern poetry. The discussion
continued, unresolved.
Poetry is subjective. Each of us was
influenced by a special lyric/poem and
we presented our thoughts. Of course,
reading the poem aloud
was mandatory. Short
snaps were comments such
as John K. was a blend of
deeply profound intimate
folk music, storytelling,
dry humour. He wades into
the topics of religion and
politics. He stands for a cause
such as the petition for the
recognition of Reggie Leach in
the Hockey Hall of Fame. He
is interested in Manitoba places
and moments, the marginal and
the forgotten. His influences are
music and literature. “I think. I
read. I like books and I like
poetry.”
Surprisingly, there were some phras-
es/poems that reminded us of the late Bill
Holm. We had a few special thoughts
about Bill who passed away on Feb. 25,
2009. We had sent greetings to Bill’s
wife, Marcy Brekken. She replied that
she is fine and still in China until May.
The evening carried on enthus-
iastically. We agreed that some notes
on special items would help with
understanding more about John K. and
his world, notes such as David Gislason
included in his book of poetry. We felt
John K.’s poetry was “hard work”, the
words he had used when describing what
the writing process was for him.
We all agreed that John K. is a star
ascending and look forward to his future
creative endeavours. His following
is strong in many locations such as
Germany and at any concert anywhere,
his audience knows every word of the
song. Or poem?
Our next selection is W.D.
Valgardson’s, What the Bear Said: Skald
Tales of New Iceland. John K. spoke
of putting a story into a three minute
pop song. W.D. wrote his tales as short
stories. Stay tuned.
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