Metalhead

A throwback in time. To some to a better time (and music) and to a smaller village that is center stage here. We do have a girl who's different and is not really liked for that reason. The story has a lot of good songs (again only if you like the music of course) and a character development that might be predictable but still works, especially because of the acting.

It stays true to its nature most of the time, not going for an easy way out (no pun intended), but might have jumped the shark a bit at the ending (depending on your view of what's happening). Still good strong characters and a nice story.

There's something about northern hemisphere foreign-language movies that I love. Anything from Denmark or Sweden, and this is from Iceland, I think?

I do have my doubts about this film though. The acting isn't always great and I had a problem with the believability of the main character as a hard rocker, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of Metalhead much.

It doesn't matter if a movie has little content as long as you enjoy what it gives. Perhaps a bleak statement of art, or just someone working through their grief through mismatched relationships and the love of music, whatever the genre might be: it could be country or gospel, it doesn't really matter. Ultimately things work out well if you stick to your principles and follow your dreams, listening to your heart, instead of taking easy comfort, which is what I got from this movie.

Málmhaus could have been better and a bit more sordid and harrowing, but the ending credits with Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth nailed it for me.

It's not often I see Icelandic movies available let alone ones that peak my interest so I rushed to see Metalhead first opportunity I got.

Initially I wasn't sure what to make of it but it didn't take me long to get engrossed into this fascinating little tale.

Essentially a tale of grief and one girls way of handling a great pain in her life this is a story that many will empathise with (Though maybe not to some of the same extremes)

With strong performances from the outset, a gripping highly original unique storyline & great soundtrack this is a piece of world cinema well worth anyone's time.

It may seem that this film is about music or about a musical style, but it really speaks about what is that people thinks about us and what they think we should be or they want us to be, about what we want to be and about who we really are. Talk about the most important thing in life, which is one's own identity and our happiness. Very powerful message. It is an excellent film.

In Iceland, Karl (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson), his wife Droplaug (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir), his son Baldur (Óskar Logi Ágústsson) and his daughter Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) form a simple family of farmers that works in their farm. When Baldur has an accident and dies, the family is deeply affected and the twelve year-old Hera becomes a rebel and fan of hard rock. Along the years, they grieve the loss of Baldur and the confused Hera composes songs of death rock and gets into successive troubles in their friendly community.

"Málmhaus", a.k.a. "Metalhead", is an original Icelandic drama, with the story of a troubled teenager that becomes a fan of hard rock. The screenplay is absolutely unique and never uses clichés. Hera is a messy character troubled by the loss of her beloved brother. She gets into the most unusual situations that are resolved by her parents, neighbors and members of their communities that understand the meaning of the loss of Karl to the family, especially to the young girl. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mudando o Destino" ("Changing the Destiny")