Grimsey

We discover the grim details just before his arrival at Grimsey that the protagonist has caused all of his own problems, and at that, is cool and aloof toward an overtly caring tour guide. Then, when suddenly reaching a flimsy resolution on the matter from a single glance and assessment, the music turns upbeat and the exit song fuels another pathological break away. This is an exercise in the dark world that lies beneath guilt and shame, loneliness (aka healthy people staying away from toxic people), and an anticlimactic detective search, through beautiful scenery, for the lost man driving the car and leading this search.

Saw this at the Insideout Film Festival.

It's 70 minutes of my life I won't get back. This could have been made into a 15-20 minute short film and it would have the same impact.

Don't waste your time like I did :(

After their breakup, Norberto runs off to Iceland, and begins to ghost Bruno. With the help of Reykjavik police, and with fellow Spaniard Arnau in tow, Bruno chases Norberto all the way north to the Arctic Circle island of Grimsey. Along the way, voice-mail messages Bruno tries to leave gives a view of Bruno's grieving process.

While Arnau has been tagged with the occupation of tour guide, this film shows Iceland as a colorless, cold climate - like Norberto's heart, receding into the past, as noted by one song Bruno sings along to.

This is a downer of a movie, and I wonder if it could have been made if the couple were not same-sex. Throw in a sexual dynamic, and it would be even creepier - which means that a same-sex couple is burdened with an unhappy story.

I'm sorry, but this movie lost me. Maybe its meaning was hidden during my ff (but I did rewind ever so often for some hint) of the endless scenes of Icelandic building fronts and even more endless scenes of sitting in a car traveling on a road over basically just flat basaltic rock. All accompanied by loooonnnng stretches of silence. The acting and barren dialogue was commensurate to the landscape. The movie concluded by mentioning looking at the Northern Lights, but we're shown lights on the side of a building going on & off. Huh! This film felt more like an Icelandic promotional tourist film than the supposed broken heart tale.

The movie takes its time but it is a 69mn movie so that's fine. The atmosphere is quiet unique with all the islandic landscapes. It's a very intimate portrait of a heartbroken man searching answers from his lover that suddenly disappeared. The plot is simple but all is in the atmosphere. All the melancholy of a loss and the need to reborn. Nicely executed and moving.