Hjartasteinn (2016)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 129 minuten
Alternative title: Heartstone
Country:
Iceland / Denmark
Directed by: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Stars: Baldur Einarsson, Blær Hinriksson and Diljá Valsdóttir
IMDb score:
7,4 (6.826)
Releasedate: 28 December 2016
Hjartasteinn plot
The story is set in a remote fishing village in Iceland. Thor and Christian are two teenagers and best friends. They are experiencing an eventful summer. One discovers a girl, while the other experiences new feelings for his comrade. At the end of the summer, when the rough nature of the region takes back its rights, it is time to leave the playground and they become a lot more mature.
Social Media
Actors and actresses
Thór
Kristján
Beta
Hanna
Sven
Hulda, Thor's Mother
Hafdís
Sigurdur, Kristján's Father
Þórdís, Kristján's Mother
Reviews & comments
tbouwh
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- 5823 messages
- 5404 votes
A loud scream under water expresses the impotence that Kristjan (Blær Hinriksson) in Heartstone can never really express. That early morning dive, halfway through the film, basically tells the viewer everything they need to know.
The Icelandic director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson actually brings the rest mainly by feel, and that during two tranquil hours of cinema. The coming-of-age perspective is given a fresh and honest interpretation by the young, inexperienced cast, who aptly portray the happiness and tragedy of growing up. In this drama, love and friendship go hand in hand with family problems and social exclusion. Those thematic clichés might come into play in another film, but they are only used very sparingly here.
“It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it”, American film critic Roger Ebert once said. In the most intimate moments of this atmospheric character study, the actors convey the sensitive essence of the film; they take the sometimes mediocre writing to a higher level. The camera is their greatest ally. The most minimal emotions reveal themselves in beautiful, close-up shots.
It's the best choice Guðmundsson could have made; he takes the time to grow his characters, and it definitely pays off. Heartstone is one of the most beautiful, most authentic films of the year.
Translated from Dutch · View original
De filosoof
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- 2489 messages
- 1700 votes
Gripping, beautiful film. The film convincingly shows the contrast between the harsh, cruel life in the countryside on the one hand and the tenderness and fragility of adolescents in their budding sexuality. Life is hard, both in terms of dealing with nature (killing animals) and in terms of social control, where everyone must adhere to the imposed standards in order not to become the target of ridicule, violence and ostracism. Above all, the film beautifully paints the tenderness and uncertainty of friendships between adolescents who embark on a love path for the first time as a contrast to that hard life, so that the one who deviates from the norm is figuratively and literally crushed like a fish that has been brought ashore is trampled to death and who, like the trapped birds, will have to bite his own legs to escape.
The film builds up the drama slowly but compellingly: halfway through my rating was still at 3 ½ stars ('nice movie') but at the end I fought back my tears and hoped fervently that it would still work out so that it is 4 ½ stars become.
Translated from Dutch · View original
wibro
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- 11590 messages
- 4098 votes
Not a happy video but very nice. Nicely played also by those two lads and especially by those teasing girls who initially gave me a happy feeling. But... sometimes the film looked pretty cruel, like the kicking of the fish to death in the beginning and then the fish weren't even eaten yet, but they were left to rot outside. Well, life is hard in Iceland, which was also excellently represented by the misty but oh so beautiful landscape that, by the way, strongly reminded me of that other Icelandic film Hross í Oss (2013) although that film was less tragic. That scene of Thor hanging from the rope in that cliff gave me the necessary shivers. Towards the end it became a bit too dramatic for me at times, but nevertheless this is one of the better films I've seen this year.
4.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
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