Interesting portrait of an alienated woman.
Gisella (Elma Lisa Gunnarsdottir) doesn't do very well with people -- at work, in relationships, or at home. She had a daughter once, and we wonder why and how she died.
It's a reflection of Gisella's social ineptitude that she invites three immigrants whom she has just met to come and live with her in a big old house in Reykjavik. Inevitable misunderstandings and conflicts follow, as we observe how Gisella violates boundaries until engaging in an an act of revenge that will haunt everyone.
I have a strong interest in Iceland and its language, so I was delighted to find a film on amazon that was not dubbed or in which the foreign-born cast does not speak English.
Actresses Enid Mbabazi, Claire Harpa Kristinsdottir, and Raffaela Brizuela Sigurdarsdottir do extremely well with what Ms. Mbabazi's character understatedly calls "a very difficult language." I was able to understand a few words here and there, which made me happy (i.e., "Ekki gott").
This is a quietly troubling film in which, although the protagonist often does wrong, we sense her vulnerability, particularly in the multiple scenes in which we observe her sleeping.
We learn a little here about how a relatively homogenous society is coping with immigration. I'd like to know more.
Gisella (Elma Lisa Gunnarsdottir) doesn't do very well with people -- at work, in relationships, or at home. She had a daughter once, and we wonder why and how she died.
It's a reflection of Gisella's social ineptitude that she invites three immigrants whom she has just met to come and live with her in a big old house in Reykjavik. Inevitable misunderstandings and conflicts follow, as we observe how Gisella violates boundaries until engaging in an an act of revenge that will haunt everyone.
I have a strong interest in Iceland and its language, so I was delighted to find a film on amazon that was not dubbed or in which the foreign-born cast does not speak English.
Actresses Enid Mbabazi, Claire Harpa Kristinsdottir, and Raffaela Brizuela Sigurdarsdottir do extremely well with what Ms. Mbabazi's character understatedly calls "a very difficult language." I was able to understand a few words here and there, which made me happy (i.e., "Ekki gott").
This is a quietly troubling film in which, although the protagonist often does wrong, we sense her vulnerability, particularly in the multiple scenes in which we observe her sleeping.
We learn a little here about how a relatively homogenous society is coping with immigration. I'd like to know more.
