Bíódagar / Movie Days

The streets haven’t yet been paved in a new residential area in Reykjavík, but the blocks of flats are already standing. Tómas grows up there in the 1960s. Together with his friends, they transform the surroundings into an adventure playground, but his favourite thing to do is go to the movies. His eyes grow wide in astonishment watching a film about the Bible – as Jesus is crucified, his father covers the boy’s eyes. In this film, the director recalls his childhood and how cinema unleashed the imagination. It isn’t a nostalgic trip to the past; it casually captures the political mood during the Cold War era almost as an aside. It’s also about various forms of storytelling. During a stay on an isolated island, Tómas regales an old farmer by re-telling movie plots, and he responds in kind with tales of vicious trolls. A brief appearance by Otto Sander as a ghostly horseman causes the cow to kick the milk pail and a woman to perform a ritual to exorcise demons.