Iceland review - 2019, Qupperneq 72

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Iceland Review
characters, the police officer Ásgeir from Trapped.
“He’s so clever in so many ways but in other ways,
he’s totally useless. Sometimes you just want to yell
at him through your screen, ‘What are you thinking?
Are you an idiot?’ But every time viewers felt that
way was when he thought he’d found a lead and was
going to sort it out himself, without asking for any
help.”
Hidden people
Even though the emotions are restrained and the
characters reserved, Ingvar says there’s something
about Icelandic stories that appeals to film viewers
abroad. From the legion of films that are produced
yearly around the world and vie for the adoration of
the public, an astonishing number of Icelandic films
manage to cut through the noise. “It’s such a delight
that every year it seems more Icelandic films are get-
ting the attention that so many films aspire to. You
feel it at these festivals. Every time they screen an
Icelandic film, it’s played to a full house and people
are expecting to be wowed.”
While Ingvar regularly gets asked about that X
factor that sets Iceland films apart from the rest, he
can only guess as to what the secret is: the nature, the
perceived exoticism, or the way we tell stories. “I’ve
sometimes said that we’re a people of the sagas, and
that’s what we’re proud of. We have literature reach-
ing almost back to the time when we first settled
here. Telling stories, in books or in any other form, is
something we’ve nurtured.” He also has the feeling
that there’s something a little bit extra helping things
along. “I think it’s this hidden thing that is hard to
explain. I’m a sceptic if anything, but I think there’s
something beautiful in saying ‘I believe.’ And I believe
that there’s something hidden, something that we
can’t quite explain. I think it’s connected to the land
we live in and the energy here, that which is unsaid,
and can’t be grasped. I think that’s what that ‘special
Icelandic thing’ is. People can call it elves or hidden
people or whatever they like but I just think it’s better
not to ignore the power that is in the land.”
"We’re always dealing with the same subjects. How we deal with life, how we
deal with the people we live with, in our communities or our families."