MOVIE DAYS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.1
Shown at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema Running Length: 1:30 MPAA Classification: Not Rated (Mature themes, sexual situations, profanity)
Cast: Orvar Jens Arnarsson, Rurik Haraldsson, Sigrun Hjalmtysdottir Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson Screenplay: Einar Mar Gudmundsson Cinematography: Ari Kristinsson No U.S. distribution planned In Icelandic with subtitles
Iceland's motion picture industry may be in its infancy, but Fridrik Fridriksson's MOVIE DAYS is a very mature effort. The director, who admits that this film is completely autobiographical, said he made the picture to honor his childhood influences and share his impressions on the variety of storytelling methods which led to his becoming involved in film making. Elements of CINEMA PARADISO and Woody Allen's RADIO DAYS can be seen here, but Fridriksson pays homage; he does not steal. The playful, occasionally-dreamy tone of MOVIE DAYS is all his own.
Fridriksson loves movies -- that much is clear from the opening moments of this film when he shows his young protagonist, Tomas, staring enraptured at a showing of the American Biblical saga KING OF KINGS. There are other forms of entertainment in 1964 Iceland, most notably radio and television, but Tomas loves the cinema, whether the offering is a grand epic or a Roy Rogers flick. His cousin is a Hollywood starlet who gets parts in such unmemorable titles as HITLER'S LAST DAYS and THE CRAWLING HAND (Fridriksson went out of his way to dig up scenes from these B-movies).
In addition to being a fond reminiscence, MOVIE DAYS is also an examination of how American pop culture -- including movies, TV, and music -- wormed its way into the fabric of Iceland's society. Regardless of how unappreciated U.S. global politics might have been, some elements of everyday American life were too seductive for their influence to be denied or rebuffed.
While the first half of this film is about how movies impact Tomas' world, the second half tells how he survives when deprived not only of his local theater, but of all the "comforts of civilization". His parents send him to spend a summer on the rural farmstead of an uncle. There, instead of sitting in the darkness staring at a screen filled with wondrous images, he is relegated to lying on his sleeping pallet listening to bedtime stories. Nevertheless, Tomas comes to enjoy this vastly different life for both its simplicity and its sincerity.
MOVIE DAYS does not have an American distributor, nor is it likely to get one. Although he's the best-known director in his country, Fridriksson is not recognized outside Iceland, which is a shame. His pictures mix unaffected beauty with freshness and honesty. And what about the image of Scandinavian films as slow-moving and deeply- thoughtful? In Fridriksson's own words, "[Ingmar] Bergman is boring." This should say just about all that's necessary about the pacing of MOVIE DAYS.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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