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Amazon.co.uk Review
Modern-day Iceland is terminally weird, if writer-director Baltasar Kormákur's debut film 101 Reykjavík is anything to go by. Our guide to this particular Icelandic saga is Hlynur, 28-year-old unemployed slacker and one-man Nordic-gloom factory; "I'll be dead after I die. I was dead before I was born. Life is just a break from death," he muses. After his gut-freezingly boring family Christmas dinner--whose highpoint is watching a video of last year's ditto--you can see his point. Distraction, and a welcome dose of Southern warmth, comes in the form of his mother's flamenco teacher Lola (the delicious Victoria Abril). Only after sleeping with her does he discover that she's not just Mum's teacher, but her lover as well.
A little like Pål Sletaune's 1997 Norwegian postie-comedy Junk Mail, 101 Reykjavík gets a lot of lugubrious fun from its protagonist's sheer social and emotional ineptitude--though to give Hlynur his due, most of his mates seem equally clueless, (the women, as so often in this kind of movie, come off rather better). We've been here before, of course--as a male with a severe case of delayed adolescence is gradually brought to engage with adulthood--but the offbeat humour and eccentric details of Kormákur's film keep it fresh and engaging. Whether--in view of remarks like "Reykjavík is like some backwater in Siberia, with glaciated diarrhoea,"--it will do much for the Icelandic tourist trade is another matter!
On the DVD: Filmographies for Kormákur, Abril, and lead male actor Hilmir Snaer Gudnason; subtitles and menu; and the theatrical trailer, which contains snatches of several scenes evidently cut from the final release. The sound is clean and immediate (score co-composed by Damon Albarn) and the widescreen print preserves the original 16:9 ratio. --Philip Kemp
Special Features
Icelandic
Region 2
English
Region 2
English
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
101 Reykjavik revolves around the life of 'Hlynur' a 30 year old unemployed slacker, who although a grown man still lives with his mother, spends his time drinking, smoking, surfing the net for porn and sleeping with all the women he can get his hands on. Everything in Hlynur's life is just the way he wants it... uncomplicated; and when a friend of his mother, a Spanish flamenco instructor named Lola, comes to stay with them, Hlynur's cosy little world is shattered forever.
Although labelled as a comedy the humour is typically Icelandic, very dark, dry, and full of pathos. And while the film revolves around Hlynur's life, it's also a cynical look at Reykjavik's hedonistic and liberal society.
Overall, while '101 Reykjavik' isn't the best Icelandic film out there, it's still a great film with an entertaining witty story and a definitely worth a look if you're a fan of indie films.
Although labelled as a comedy the humour is typically Icelandic, very dark, dry, and full of pathos. And while the film revolves around Hlynur's life, it's also a cynical look at Reykjavik's hedonistic and liberal society.
Overall, while '101 Reykjavik' isn't the best Icelandic film out there, it's still a great film with an entertaining witty story and a definitely worth a look if you're a fan of indie films.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
On one level this film has a somewhat "run of the mill" story line. It can be viewed as the story of a twenty-something male unable to grow up or form relationships. The kind of story we've all seen many times before. However, the beauty of the film lies in its eccentric characters and setting and the black comedy moments that are provided throughout (such as the main character's unsuccesful attempt to kill himself on the top of a mountain).
The main character Hlynur is unemployed, has a bad on/off relationship and has no idea what to do with his life other than surf for internet porn and get drunk - indeed he says at one point that its as if he is dead. Into his life, one Christmas, comes his mother's Spanish flamenco teacher (who, it later transpires, is also his mother's lesbian lover). All hell proceeds to break loose. Somehow, despite the depression of some of the situations they engineer themseleves into, one can't help but like Hlynur, and all of the characters in the film.
The film is a bit let down by its ending, which is a bit too "happy ever after" (Noi Albinoi is a similar film from Iceland but a great deal more "edgier"). It redeems itself with its the soundtrack which is really original. All in all this is a pleasant evening's viewing, and something different - I didn't really find it as depressing as some of the other reviewers seem to have found it.
The main character Hlynur is unemployed, has a bad on/off relationship and has no idea what to do with his life other than surf for internet porn and get drunk - indeed he says at one point that its as if he is dead. Into his life, one Christmas, comes his mother's Spanish flamenco teacher (who, it later transpires, is also his mother's lesbian lover). All hell proceeds to break loose. Somehow, despite the depression of some of the situations they engineer themseleves into, one can't help but like Hlynur, and all of the characters in the film.
The film is a bit let down by its ending, which is a bit too "happy ever after" (Noi Albinoi is a similar film from Iceland but a great deal more "edgier"). It redeems itself with its the soundtrack which is really original. All in all this is a pleasant evening's viewing, and something different - I didn't really find it as depressing as some of the other reviewers seem to have found it.
Format:DVD
Scandinavian countries do some great offbeat movies, quirky little indie films that entertain as well as give an insight as to how their inhabitants cope with (or not, as the case may go) with long freezing nights and quite often, not a lot to do.
101 Reykjavik is one such, from Iceland itself and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason plays Hlynur and his methods of coping include alcohol, nocturnal activities that involve 'research' in bars, tobacco, weed (when he can get it) sex (ditto) surfing for porn day and night - and er, living his mother, though he's 30.
Things Hilynur doesn't do - work, help his own cause in any way at all, nor wear a condom on the only two occasions that he's had a reason to. You can guess the outcome/s of these last two inactions.
Hilynur's divorced mother then suddenly decides that she's attracted to Lola, a Spanish flamenco dancer, who happened also to be the target for Hilynur's second sexual encounter - without the condom, if you recall.
This three-way habitation in a small flat has its implications and minor mishaps, after Lola moves in.
It's all quite squalid in an oddly appealing way and nobody is that nasty and no-one beats anyone up. It's certificate 18, mainly for strong nudity and sex but these scenes aren't that erotic, always being rather quirky, embarrassing or occurring in dingy corners.
There's some nice little narrative twists that give it a pleasing roundness, without being too neat and is a good, satisfying film. Quite memorable, too, as I saw it at least five years ago on TV and buying the DVD now was like reacquainting with an old, rather distant friend.
Ex Blur frontsman Damon Albarn had a part to do with this movie - co-composing (played?) the film's music and (apparently) owns a bar in Reykjavik with the director, Baltasar Kormakur. This is this director's first movie and so far, is difficult to make comparisons, but the nearest I can get is possibly a Scandinavian Pedro Almadovar.
101 Reykjavik is one such, from Iceland itself and Hilmir Snaer Gudnason plays Hlynur and his methods of coping include alcohol, nocturnal activities that involve 'research' in bars, tobacco, weed (when he can get it) sex (ditto) surfing for porn day and night - and er, living his mother, though he's 30.
Things Hilynur doesn't do - work, help his own cause in any way at all, nor wear a condom on the only two occasions that he's had a reason to. You can guess the outcome/s of these last two inactions.
Hilynur's divorced mother then suddenly decides that she's attracted to Lola, a Spanish flamenco dancer, who happened also to be the target for Hilynur's second sexual encounter - without the condom, if you recall.
This three-way habitation in a small flat has its implications and minor mishaps, after Lola moves in.
It's all quite squalid in an oddly appealing way and nobody is that nasty and no-one beats anyone up. It's certificate 18, mainly for strong nudity and sex but these scenes aren't that erotic, always being rather quirky, embarrassing or occurring in dingy corners.
There's some nice little narrative twists that give it a pleasing roundness, without being too neat and is a good, satisfying film. Quite memorable, too, as I saw it at least five years ago on TV and buying the DVD now was like reacquainting with an old, rather distant friend.
Ex Blur frontsman Damon Albarn had a part to do with this movie - co-composing (played?) the film's music and (apparently) owns a bar in Reykjavik with the director, Baltasar Kormakur. This is this director's first movie and so far, is difficult to make comparisons, but the nearest I can get is possibly a Scandinavian Pedro Almadovar.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Immoral, irresponsible but utterly irresistible!
I bought this movie on impulse a few years ago, after spending a cracking holiday in Iceland, and watch it at least once a year. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Cartimand
unusual and engaging film
Enjoyed this film - don't know why I missed it when it first came out. Good to see a more realistic presentation of Iceland - rather than the hyped up version we all were fed in... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2010 by Mrs. Valerie B. Astles
Fun but not as much substence as there could have been.
Reykjavik 101 is the story of twenty-something Hilmir, who still lives at home with his mother whilst enjoying, through lack of interest in anything more meaningful, a life of... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2008 by Dead Celeb
Simple and Powerful
This film is a pure and easy, gives a window into a young man's life and the trauma embedded with his life. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2007 by Mr. D. J. Arnold
Fall in love twice!
Not one to give away the plot, all I can say is that this film is an absolute gem and I can't recommend it highly enough. Read more
Published on 14 May 2006 by Miss Wolfie
Light but intelligent
This is a warm and entertaining comedy about life in urban Iceland. It's not a terribly deep film, but it has an engaging nordic charm and eccentricity. Read more
Published on 16 April 2006 by David Welsh
The Amsterdam of the Arctic ?
"101 Reykjavik" provides an interesting insight into life in modern day Iceland, as seen through the eyes of a 28 year old unemployed slacker,Hlynur, who lives with his divorced... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2005 by L. Davidson
Excellent!!
seen the film few times and read the book. it is published in english as well!! loved it.
Published on 16 Nov 2003
A laugh about life in moderm times
This video is really enjoyable. Both Lola and the nordic anti-hero are great. Fatalism as a joke and black humor all over the film. Read more
Published on 19 April 2002 by Elaluf Calderwood
Zany black comedy
101 Reykjavík is set against the backdrop of Iceland's swinging nightlife based on Hallgrimur Helgason's novel with the same title. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2001 by "soylego"
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