SAGA SHOP - Haust I Fall 2019

44 Icelandair Stopover take over the men’s lives and control them and the men let themselves be controlled. Here, a new woman enters his life, takes over, and he becomes like a piece of furniture. She probably figures he’s a decent guy and that she might as well stay with him. It’s very comical. The actors, Siggi [Sigurður Karlsson] and Edda, are superb. I had to be 100% focused in order not to burst out laughing with every sentence Edda spoke. She makes everyday things so funny; you can’t help but have a fit of laughter. She’s a magician. She has such a nose for comedy and makes these scenes screamingly funny. She has such a strong sense for these interactions, such tragic humor. Then there are the two teenage goths. Yes. Óskar makes friends with the goths. It has to do with him not being able to grow up and seeing himself in these kids, giving them the scope to do what he would like to do. But suddenly he’s given them too much liberty and he doesn’t realize that he, as an adult, has to take responsibility for these children. The boys [Elvar Aron Heimisson and Alex Leó Kristinsson] are fabulous, so laughable. It’s a funny idea, studying these adolescents. Being a teenager is funny. Everything is so dramatic and they’re trying to find themselves in some fad or a lifestyle, and one of them is a better goth than the other—I thought that was brilliant. They take everything so seri- ously and Óskar is very tolerant towards them. He sees some beauty in how convinced they are about this lifestyle. And it’s through them that Óskar eventually moves on into adulthood. It suddenly hits him that what he does matters to other people—his actions have consequences. In the latter part of the film he realizes that what he says and does to the woman [his love interest] and not least to the children matters and that he has to be a decent person, stand up straight and take responsibility for himself and, of course, for others too. There’s a beautiful reconciliation in the end. Óskar catches himself being an inactive participant in life and reaches a turning point. Pity the Lovers is an Icelandic film but the director is Swedish. How did that happen? Maximilian Hult made a film called Hemma , a Swedish production filmed in Iceland. His wife, Anna G. Magnúsdóttir, is Icelandic and she runs a production company in Stockholm with Anders Granström. Then Maximilian wrote his second film and wanted to shoot it in Sweden. They had almost funded the entire project but lacked 20%, which was exactly the percentage refunded by the Icelandic state to foreign film projects. So, they decided to relocate the project to Iceland, film it with Icelandic actors and rewrite it for Icelandic reality. It highlights how great the refunding system is for the Icelandic film industry. Does the film have any Swedish elements? The director has a very Swedish way of looking at life. He has a different feeling for comedy. So even though it’s an Icelandic film, there’s a spirit hovering over it that isn’t strictly Icelandic. There’s an interesting mix in the film between Icelandic and Swedish humor, which is different, more sophisticated and subtle. Icelandic humor is rougher, almost vulgar at times. At first I wondered whether it would come through but was pleasantly sur- prised to see how well it was received. There’s something true about it. It’s low-key and subtle and not particularly lofty in content or progression, but it manages to touch on something that is true and therefore becomes incredibly funny. It moves you. These charact- ers touch you in a subtle way. It’s a story of people. From top to bottom: The brothers at a wedding on Viðey island; the two teenage goths; a strange performance the brothers attend; a young, wannabe artist—one of Maggi’s many girlfriends. You can watch Pity the Lovers on board this flight. Check out what other films and TV shows are available on page 96 and on our in-flight entertainment system.