- Format: PAL
- Language Icelandic
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Universal Pictures UK
- DVD Release Date: 26 Jan 2009
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B001L5SNHK
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 42,048 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details |
Reviews
Synopsis
It looks like nothing ever happens in Iceland and when a seemingly innocuous old man is brutally killed, the news is in someway amplified. Detective Erlendur Sveisson, fifty and living a life plagued by various forms of addiction, is appointed the apparently incomprehensible case. During his investigations of the murder, Erlendur discovers that the victim was anything but an innocent pensioner, his past filled with rape and violence. These findings lead Erlendur to connect the assassination to other unsolved homicides, revealing an unsettling and gory picture that spreads virtually over the entire country. An austere yet powerful and gripping detective story, Jar City has been very well received by demanding American audiences. Perfectly crafted as a suspense-generating machine, what really makes Jar City a unique film in its genre is the effective balance between its vivid and somewhat physical images, and its cerebral, nearly philosophical narrative mood.
Product Description
BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
and the Swedish Wallander TV series, you will probably like this film. This the first of Indridason's crime novels based on his detective Erlender and I had read all the books in the series so far before seeing this. I thought it was a very good adaption and hope that they will do more. It is more thoughtful than hard-hitting and while the plot is complex enough, it is not a high octane thriller. I actually like the fact that the characters look like real people and as I am interested in Iceland, found it gave some interesting views of Icelandic society today. If you like the serious Nordic approach to crime, you should enjoy this.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Jar city is a complex, dark yet engaging film. It is beautifully shot, showing the barren and sometimes desolate landscape of Iceland. Just what links a rare genetic disease, the death of a young girl, a murder, a rape which occurred 20 years ago and a missing person? Well you'll just have to watch it to find out. Despite the subject matter, the film does have the odd moment of humour which does wonders to shift the mood. The main actor gives a tremendous performance in what is a highly enjoyable film and yet another reason why Scandinavian film is perhaps the best in Europe. This won't be to everyone's taste however I liked it a lot.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A sheep's head,Einstein's brain,and dug-up skeletons,tainted blood.A lovely feast and spectacle for the Icelandic tourist board to contend with let alone this detective procedural.There's a certain shock value to all theseitems, an esoteric,forensic quality,as well as a maguffin or two.Jar City by Arnaldar Indridson has been filmed by Kormakur to bring out the terrors and dangers of the wilderness of Iceland in sepulchral blue tones.There are spectacular,sweeping shots of the landscape as Erlendur,the dour detective drives across it,searching for connections to the murder of a lonely,old rapist,together with an effective choral soundtrack.A major theme is the unlocking of a government DNA database and organ centre,Jar City,by the genetic researcher,Orn,who is bereaving his young daughter's death,and has gained unlawful access,leading to tragedy.Isolated in the Atlantic, wind-swept, wet with winter gloom,seams of humour run through the darkness like the returning sun to pagans. Erlendur is the depressed father of a junkie daughter who is pregnant and needs his help.The Icelanders'diminished populationseeks survival through the DNA database and the fact that the raped women have not aborted their children.The murdered Holberg has,through rape, given birth to children with his own genetic brain disease.
There is hatred and fear of the surveillance society.The idea of the keeping of these old family secrets-tragedies,sorrows and death-classified in computers,waiting to be called up.Dark secrets,black landscapes,grim weather and long winter nights.There are sleazy retired cops and brooding psychopathic criminals waiting to escape prison and murder.The awkward,unglamorous,beardy Erlendur(Sigurdsson) keeps the tone basic and real,with his tender regard for his daughter amid the chaos,in a film whose well-trodden themes of how the past infects the present through genetic and emotional inheritances,lays seige through a repulsion that haunts him like an evil spirit.This nordic noir, full of unsettling atmospherics, feels genuinely fresh.
There is hatred and fear of the surveillance society.The idea of the keeping of these old family secrets-tragedies,sorrows and death-classified in computers,waiting to be called up.Dark secrets,black landscapes,grim weather and long winter nights.There are sleazy retired cops and brooding psychopathic criminals waiting to escape prison and murder.The awkward,unglamorous,beardy Erlendur(Sigurdsson) keeps the tone basic and real,with his tender regard for his daughter amid the chaos,in a film whose well-trodden themes of how the past infects the present through genetic and emotional inheritances,lays seige through a repulsion that haunts him like an evil spirit.This nordic noir, full of unsettling atmospherics, feels genuinely fresh.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant
Having read all of the Arnaldur Indridason books available in english. I found this film, to be true to the book and a change from the horrible american rubbish we see. Read more
Published 5 months ago by kc
First class film
This film has all the ingredients of a good mystery. It also has great intrigue and sombre atmosphere. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Keith Carr, State Registered Paramedic
Jar City
I'm currently showing a bit of an obsession with foreign crime (as if we don't have enough of our own!) and BBC4 is the place to find it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Moonlit
Almost but not quite
Just caught this film on BBC4 (the current haven for intelligent foreign films/series)and was very impressed indeed-the only thing preventing a five star review is that it just... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs Pisaroni
Better than the novel...?
Whoever complains that this is dull is kind of missing the point, I feel. I love Scandinavian crime fiction, I love the Swedish Wallander TV series for its bleakness and forensic... Read more
Published 15 months ago by LivingStereo
Like Wallander, but with added misery
And no trees. I think the few they have in Reykjavik must have been imported. Iceland surely has the bleakest landscape on earth, and this film makes the most of it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by John Williams
Wallender on valium?
This is a beautifully observed, superbly acted, brooding and down-played movie in a dour Icelandic film noir style, but none the worse for that. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Andy Millward
Well worth the money
Absolutely loved this film, the acting is great as is the plot which doesn't stray too much from the novel on which its based. Read more
Published 23 months ago by lovemurakami
Jar City / Tainted Blood
The film is drawn from the book Jar City by the Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason. For some reason, the book is now called Tainted Blood. Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by T. A. Cuff
Terminally dull
I read a few reviews for this film before watching it that branded `Jar City' as a hidden gem- a film that very likely wouldn't come to the attention of mainstream audiences... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2009 by Fantasy Lore
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
