The Trailer:
Director: Ragnar Bragason
Cast: Thora Bjorg Helga, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, & Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson
Synopsis: After witnessing her brother's death at age twelve, Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) submerges herself into metal music (the music her brother loved) and finds solace there. And now in her early adulthood she must try to cope with the grief that she has been living in and finally find her way out.
I didn't really know what to expect from this movie. The trailer almost makes it seem like a psychological thriller, which it definitely is not. It's mostly a study of the effects of grief on a family who, rather than deal with the loss of their son/brother, remain lost inside their own sorrow.
The setting of this film is a muted, bleak, cold village in Iceland. All the citizens are hardworking people who don't understand Hera's penchant for heavy metal music, and really just think of her as a rebellious nuisance. When Hera reaches an age that demands her to make something of herself and become someone's wife, she rebels against that even harder. She also becomes reckless realizing that her idea of how she wants to live her life doesn't match what her parents want from her. And while Hera is outrageous and loud in her effort to escape her grief, her parents are much more subdued. Her father, Karl (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson), doesn't talk much about his late son or anything for that matter. He is quite distant from everyone, especially his wife. Hera's mother, Droplaug (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is still going through the motions of being a mother and wife, but is emotionally detached from both Hera and her husband. This creates a dynamic between the family members that is both broken and strained. And though Hera is wallowing in her grief, she finds an essential part of herself. She finds her love of heavy metal music and creating her own music in order to finally deal with her pain. Which also forces her parents to deal with their own pain.
Through most of the movie it seems as though the writer wants us to believe that only a sad or disturbed person could like heavy metal music, but that idea is snuffed out with two important moments in the film: When Janus (Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson), the new priest in town, reveals that he is a metal fan and when said priest encourages Hera to embrace her true self and not let others' opinions of her define who she is. Hera ultimately learns that she doesn't need her grief to be a good musician, and she doesn't need to give up her love of heavy metal in order to prove that she has finally moved past her grief. And with Hera's new found confidence in herself and her unorthodox way of living, they also can finally move past the grief that has plagued them for so many years. I most definitely liked this move and would totally watch it again!!! \m/
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