NORDIC NIGHTS -Screening of JAR CITY (TODAY)

Nordic nights presents jar city

Wednesday, September 28 - Reception at 6 PM & Screening at 7 PM

An elderly man is found murdered in his basement flat. Inspector Erlendur and his crew don’t have much to go on in the investigation, but a photograph of a young girl’s grave gives them a lead.

They discover that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of horrible crimes. Did the old man’s past come back to haunt him? As Erlendur reopens this very cold case, he follows a trail of unusual forensic evidence, uncovering secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man – with clues knit into the genetic bloodline of an entire country.
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. 93 min. In Icelandic with English subtitles.
Presented by the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto (ICCT) and the Consulate of Iceland in Toronto.
$10, $8 for students, seniors, ICCT members and NFB Front Row passholders

REVIEW:

JAR CITY (MYRIN) (Iceland/Germany 2006) ****
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur

This is the kind of foreign film that will never play in North America because it is too commercial for the art crowd.  JAR CITY is term for the place where foetuses, brains, organs and the like are kept for biological research.  It is also where a murdered young girl’s brain is kept and recovered after an elderly man is suddenly found murdered in his basement flat.  JAR CITY is a bad cop, ***censored*** cop (Ingvar Örn Sigurðsson and the comic relief Björn Hlynur Haraldssonfilm) set in lively Iceland locations.  Always snowy and bleak but yet always beautifully barren (the photography is stunning), the landscape complements the mood of director Kormakur’s (101 Reykjavik) awesome suspense action thriller.  Though initially a bit confusing with so many facts thrown at the audience at once, the occasionally funny film eventually gets itself on track when all the clues make sense.  JAR CITY is also the grossest film I have seen for a long time.  Also convincingly acted and skilfully directed.  Highly recommended!