Volcano
It is a odd concept to construct a coming-of-age tale around a recently retired 67 year-old man, but writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s moving and neatly made drama manages to do just that, driven by a powerful and nicely uncompassionate performance by Theódór Júlíusson as a man who finds a reason to live at the most unlikely of time in his life.
On the surface Volcano is a bleak and gloomy story, but it develops into a tender tale…the final chapter of a love story between two ordinary people set against a simple suburban landscape in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.
(...) Rúnarsson’s film is neatly, simply and elegantly constructed, largely shot inside the couple’s simple home, but also featuring a few telling exteriors, such as Hannes’ fishing trips and a visit at the end of the film to the volcanic town where the couple came from, but left many years before after an eruption devastated the town. It is slowly paced, but makes great use of music in the opening and closing moments.
Mark Adams, Screen International
Original title: Eldfjall
Duration: 99 min
Dialogue: Icelandic
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K15
