The Fundy Film Society

101 Reykjavik

Winner of the Discovery Award (2000 Toronto International Film Festival) and a huge hit in its native Iceland, 101 Reykjavik is a cheekily off-kilter and engagingly odd film. Set in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik (101 is the zip code) the story follows Hlynur (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason), a devout slacker who lives with his mother in a house so small that the bathtub converts into a couch. Hlynur’s hectic schedule includes surfing the Internet for porn, spending his unemployment checks at bars and clubs and dodging any form of commitment to his sometimes girlfriend Hofi. But Hlynur’s idle existence is suddenly jolted by the arrival of his mother’s lesbian Spanish friend, Lola (Almodovar veteran Victoria Abril, Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down). After Hlynur and Lola engage in a night of explosive sex, Hlynur’s mom reveals that she is in love with Lola. Lola, in turn, eventually lets Hlynur know that she is pregnant and that she and Hlynur’s mother will raise the child together. When Hlynur learns that Hofi may also be pregnant with his child, he must confront the demands of adulthood by dealing with the possibility that he has fathered two illegitimate children, one of whom could end up becoming his brother. Kormakur follows the typical slacker journey from carelessness to responsibility but with a unique progression, completely eschewing convention and creating a wildly unpredictable and thoroughly engaging joyride, clearly influenced by the offbeat but plausible zaniness of Pedro Almodovar. The film also boasts a tremendously catchy soundtrack courtesy of Damon Albarn of the British super-group Blur, and alternative icon and Sugarcubes co-founder Einar Orn Benediktsson.

“Finely acted and shot with a beautiful, understated cinematic sweep … a poignant, endearingly offbeat work.” – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Imagine, if you dare, Ingmar Bergman as a consummate slacker with a wicked sense of pop humour.” – Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail

“Funny, sexy, and utterly moored in its distinctive landscape.” – Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews