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Noi Albinoi (Iceland - 2003)
Starring: Thsmas Lemarquis, Thrvstur Les Gunnarsson, Elmn Hansdsttir
Director: Dagur Kari
Plot: A teenager, bored with school and life in his small Iceland
village in a remote icy fjord, dreams of escaping his surroundings with
the city girl who works at the local diner, but his plans end up getting
out of hand.
Review: On its surface, Noi Albinoi is a coming-of-age tale
set in small-town Iceland but soon turns to more than that, becoming a
window to a social apathy and feelings of isolation that affects a whole
community. Using a cast of unknowns, director Kari's first feature easily
captures the daunting, cold surroundings and the inherent boredom of its
insular people. The main protagonist, the titular Nsi, is a tragic figure:
a smart boy who has lost all hope for the future, or indeed who might
never have had a chance to hope for any, trying to rebel and get out of
his surroundings but inevitably stuck in a life where he can find no exit.
It's an often-used, universal teenage theme, but here it feels even more
true - there really are no options. Shot with low light - giving the film
a gritty, blue- and green-tinted hue amongst the abundant snow - suing
constant close-ups of enclosed spaces, the film brings an atmosphere of
claustrophobia. It's a feeling that's also expressed in the narrative,
as the young man contemplates his very limited prospects for the future.
His close social circle, made up of his half-sane grandma, his drunken
but well-meaning father, and the local used-book seller, give the impression
of a stagnating, hopless life. As the narrative progresses, there's a
definite sense of a life teetering between boredom and oblivion that settles
in. Even the employment aspects are clear dead-ends (case in point: his
first real job is digging graves in the dead of winter when the earth
is hard as rock). Yet, this is not all a perverse, depressing drama -
the film is also observant enough, and on occasion the script clever enough,
to show some cases of humour and possible joy. That these always end up
for naught is another matter. As for the climactic, disastrous tragedy
it might well be a final, drastic way out or another step in despair -
take your pick. Noi Albinoi isn't quite a masterpiece, but in capturing
the dead-end life of its outcast character and his inhospitable surroundings,
it hits all the right notes.
Drama: 7/10
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