The Cinema of Iceland

Sebastian Jakub Konefał

The Cinema of Iceland

Between Tradition and Liquid Modernity

by Sebastian Jakub Konefał (Author)
©2019, Monographs, 330 Pages
The Arts

Series: Interdisciplinary Studies in Performance, Volume 18

The last decade was an exceptional period for the Icelandic cinema. The films produced during this time have won many prestigious awards at international festivals. Cinematic images of Iceland eclectically interlace myths, stereotypes and postmodern means of expression. At first glance, the local films obsessively repeat the same themes which might be incomprehensible for a foreign viewer. However, academic research on the most interesting motion pictures creates an opportunity to study the birth and development of small, but energetic and ambitious cinematography. Such an experience also allows analyzing problems related to the system of film production in this sparsely populated country and helps identify challenges during the process of introducing a local culture abroad. Finally, studying Icelandic cinema gives a chance to go on the audiovisual journey through the fascinating culture and unique landscapes.

The author of the book analyses popular topics and narrative strategies in Icelandic films. The research covers local versions of black comedies, road movies and crime stories as well as different figures connected with the motif of struggle between tradition and modernity.

Cover

Acknowledgments

Contents

Preface: A Cinematic Terra Incognita?

Introduction

Part One: Reconfiguring Utopias: Nation Building and Cinema

1 Nature, Countryside and the City: The Ideologies of Nation Building

Introduction

Country and the City in the Works of the Pioneers of Icelandic Cinema

Country and the City in Selected Films of Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Conclusions: On the Crossroads of the Liquid Modernity

2 In the Land of the Great Narrations: Chronotopias, Uchronias and Nostalgic Past

Introduction

Nostalgic Returns to the Past

In the Kingdom of Distance and Irony

Elves and Globalization

Conclusions

3 Tradition, History and Liquid Modernity in Icelandic Musical Documentaries

Introduction

Rock in Reykjavík: Rebellion Against the Tradition and Narcotic Taste of Cultural Colonization

Screaming Masterpiece: “Selling Out the Tradition and History”

Heima: Community, Nation and Homeland as the Elements of the “Everyday Patriotism”

Backyard: Beyond Nation and Nature

Conclusions

Part Two: Figures of Tradition, Crisis and Change

4 Of Fishermen and Their Ships: Marine Motifs, Cruel Nature and Zeitgeist

Introduction

The Spirit of the Sea and the Wind of Change in the Documentary Cinema

The Cinema of Seafaring and the Allegories of Crisis

Conclusions

5 Restless Daughters of Freyja: Female Soul of Icelandic Cinema

Introduction

Historical Background: Female Characters in Nationalistic Narratives

Cinematic Female Protagonists as Victims of Violence

Vamps, Warriors and New Models of Independent Women

Conclusions

6 The Curious Case of Anti-Vikings

Introduction: Generation X and the Crisis of Manhood

One Flew Over the Puffin’s Nest: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson’s Angels of the Universe

The Plastic Sorrows of the Icelandic Peter Pan: Baltasar Kormákur’s 101 Reykjavík

The Last Skáld? Marteinn Thorsson’s Rokland

The Tragic Fall of Icelandic puer aeternus: XL by Marteinn Thorsson

Conclusions

Part Three: Reimaging Utopia: Genres and Transnational Dreams

7 Icelandic Crime Stories

Introduction

Literary Roots

First Steps into the Cinematic Genre: Reynir Oddsson’s Morðsaga

Flirting with Neonoir

Reinterpretations of the Gangster and Police Movie

Conclusions

8 At the Edge of World: Black Comedies and the Allegories of Crisis and Isolation

Introduction

Between Utopia and Dystopia – (Re)constructions of the Concept of Insular Life

Allegories of Social and Economic Crisis

Conclusions

9 Cinematic Journeys Around Iceland

Introduction

The First Journey: The Island of Heterotopias and Pagan Beliefs

The Second Journey: The Island of Stereotypes and Conventions

The Third Journey: Bitter Flavor of Tourist Utopia

The Fourth Journey: Pop-cultural Anti-utopia and Entrance into the Void

The Last Journey: Escapes from Utopia

Conclusions

Appendix: Tradition and Liquid Modernity in Documentary Cinema

Introduction

Part 1. Reinterpretation of the Elements of National Discourse

Part 2. How to Survive After the Crisis?

Conclusions

Afterword: Notes After the Year 2016

List of Figures

Bibliography

Filmography

Bibliography of the Previously Published Parts of the Book

Index

Pages:

330

Year:

2019

ISBN (HARDBACK):

9783631778647 (Active)

ISBN (EPUB):

9783631779163 (Active)

ISBN (PDF):

9783631779156 (Active)

DOI:

10.3726/b15131

Language:

English

Keywords:

National cinema, Nordic cinema, film narration, film genres, transnational cinema, postmodernity

Published:

Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2019. 330 pp., 70 fig. b/w

Sebastian Jakub Konefał is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Film and Audio-visual Studies at the University of Gdańsk in Poland. He has published texts on science fiction and horror genres, comic books, graphic novels and Nordic cinema.

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The Cinema of Iceland

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