YOU CAN’T AVOID LIFE FOREVER.
On his birthday, Fúsi (Gunnar Jónsson), who’s never been in a relationship, attends dance class as a gift from his mother and her lover and meets a woman (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir)… but she has issues of her own. Presenting an urban Iceland plagued by storms and sleet, this low-key drama won’t attract any tourists, but that’s hardly the point. It’s a gentle portrait of a very gentle hulk of a man who couldn’t hurt a fly. Jónsson carres this film as we follow his gradual awakening from a lonely life as essentially a shy boy in a grown man’s body. His budding romance with Sjöfn engages us, even if the film as a whole is a bit underwhelming.
2015-Iceland-Denmark. 94 min. Color. Written and directed by Dagur Kári. Cast: Gunnar Jónsson (Fúsi), Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir (Sjöfn), Sigurjón Kjartansson (Mörður), Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Franziska Una Dagsdóttir, Arnar Jónsson.
Trivia: Original title: Fúsi. Co-produced by Baltasar Kormákur.