Jar City

Written and Directed by Baltasar Kormákur

In Icelandic with English Subtitles

IFC Center      

323 Sixth Avenue

 

Review by Matthew Schechter

 

“Jar City,” adapted from a novel by Icelandic crime writer Arnaldur Indridason, eases in first-time viewers of Iceland, a somewhat forgotten island between the U.S. and Europe, with an easily relatable, “Law & Order”-style murder mystery.

 

Directed and adapted for the screen by celebrated hometown filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur, “Jar City” takes the ripped-from-the-headlines approach and buttresses the movie’s moxie. The story follows Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson), the lead detective, as he balances his life between his work and his pregnant, drug addicted daughter Eva (Agusta Eva Erlendsdottir). To find the killer of one of the Island’s most notorious thugs, Inspector Erlendur enlists the help of his partner, Sigurdur Oli (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) — whose presence is welcome thanks to his training in America — and detective Elinborg (Olafia Hronn Johndottir).

 

Clueless: Björn Hlynur Haraldsson looks for a killer along the Icelandic tundra in “Jar City.”

 

It is true that only the strong survive in this seemingly barren tundra. One look at the apartment buildings and one could swear to be in mother Russia, save the marshland the Icelanders have built their homes upon. The practicality of the Icelandic lifestyle, carved from the elements of wind, sea and the snow-capped mountains, give the movie extra gravitas. (The film is beautifully shot by director of photography Bergsteinn Bjögúlfsson.) The brutal, windswept fields abutting a raging, frigid Atlantic are powerful images, and help us understand why the residents behave with such stoicism.

 

Iceland, for its dramatic landscape, is still a small country where everyone knows everyone’s business. When Erlendur and Oli interview bad guy Ellidi (Theodor Juliusson), a friend of the deceased, Ellidi taunts Erlendur about his daughter. When Oli and Elinborg go door to door asking residents about a rape that took place 30 years ago, the women in question already know about the investigation. As the murder becomes related to the recent death of a small child, eerily similar to a cold case in the ‘70s, the detectives find themselves at a controversial genetics company that ultimately leads to the place of the movie’s title.

 

“Jar City” is a welcome introduction to Icelandic culture. The parent-child relationships, the moral values of Iceland, and the intriguing no-man’s-land aesthetic leave us wanting more. Under Mr. Kormákur’s direction, we are introduced to the landscape; next time, let’s venture further down the rabbit hole.