Nonni und Manni

1869: Nonni and Manni live near a small village on the coast of Iceland with their mother (Sigrid) and grandmother. Their father boarded a ship headed overseas before 8-year-old Manni was born, and the family has been awaiting his return.

One day a stranger named Harald comes ashore with the sad news that Nonni and Manni's father has died. The family begins the mourning process, and Harald helps out on their farm in return for board. The boys form a bond with him, and begin to look up to him as a father figure. A local businessman, who is quite smitten with Sigrid, becomes increasingly irate about the situation.

A rich farmer in the village is murdered. Harald is blamed for the incident, and decides to flee into the mountains. Nonni and Manni are determined to help keep him safe and prove his innocence. With the help of a friend, they locate a secure hiding place.

As might be expected from any 12-year-old, Nonni devises several trips to the hideout with his little brother. They put themselves into peril by doing so, and the story progresses with several life-threatening close calls.

I'm Italian, I've watched this movie when I was little with my mum and I've seen it every year since then, every winter. It became a tradition of sort in my family. It's a great story, especially if you like northern landscape and historical settings. I bought the DVD from Iceland and it came in English, German,Icelandic. I'm looking for subtitles though, to make it possible for my mum to watch it again (she broke the VHS since she watched it so many times!) Anyway, if you have them, any language is fine, I'll translate it, please contact me at ceridwen_04(at)yahoo.it It's a very nice English dubbing (actually, it seems like it was recorded in English originally by the movements of their lips). But there are bits of it when they speak too quickly, or they are talking about Icelandic names and places, it would be nice to have a written subtitle as a base.

If you're looking for a clean adventure series, suitable for children and adults, this would be it. It can hold the interest of adults with its themes of law and love, yet children can keep up with the story just as easily, identifying with the main characters of youngsters Nonni and Manni.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series back in the late 1980s when it first aired on television, but have recently reconnected with it, and it's still one of my favourites. I was immediately taken in by the beautiful scenery, costuming, and charm of everyday life in mid 19th-century Iceland, and beyond that, even more so with the dramatic story that starts with their realization that their wayward father had died one year earlier. The message is brought to them personally by his best friend Harald, who poses as a threat to the greedy and manipulative character of Magnus, who is set on marrying the widow, Sigrid.

Harald is handsome, charming, and hard-working, and best of all, knew Nonni and Manni's father well, providing the warmth of good stories to tell the boys. Immediately, we know that Magnus' jealousy will start the series rolling with trouble, and soon enough it does.

Each episode is full of excitement with the boys doing what they can to help Harald stay safe from being killed, as they fight off henchmen, wildlife, and forces of nature along the way.

Though produced in the late 1980s, it has staying power with its trueness to the period of mid 19th century Iceland, with terrific hair, makeup, and costuming to transport the viewer back in time. It's just a wonderful series, and I only wish writers and producers would take note and create more like it today.