film

The Mountain – Fjallið (Scandinavian Film Festival)

The Mountain (Scandinavian Film Festival) Rating

★★★★★

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Director and Screenwriter Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir’s third full length feature is about grief, dealing with loss, guilt and growth. Filmed in the sparse beauty of an Icelandic autumn, it is a cosmic journey that handles these themes with sombre grace in this excellent film well worth the audience’s engagement.

Set in the port town of Hafnarfjörður, a town outside Reykjavík, Maria (Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir) an Astronomer, has planned a family trip to the highlands of Iceland to photograph what she hopes is a comet. When the weekend arrives however her husband Atli (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson), a one-time guitarist but now an Electrician stuck on a job with a client he despises, informs her that he has to work all weekend. Their nineteen-year-old daughter Anna (Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney), an aspiring Musician, also informs her mother that she can’t go because her band will be performing on the weekend. Maria travels by herself but has an unfortunate accident and dies, which triggers a path of grief and guilt for both Atli and Anna. It also starts them on other paths as they deal with her loss.

Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, probably best known in Australia for his role as Pétur in the outstanding Lamb (2021) and as Dries in Northern Comfort (2023) shines in the role of Atli. Haraldsson’s portrayal of the grieving husband on a personal journey deftly depicts the wide range of emotion that Atli transverses in a very skilful manner.

 

The Mountain (Scandinavian Film Festival)
The Mountain (Scandinavian Film Festival)

 

The role of the daughter, Anna, is correspondingly exceptionally portrayed by Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney. The Mountain – Fjallið marking her debut in a major film role, having previously played the minor role of Melkorka in The Northman (2022) (which also featured her actual mother, Musician/Actor, Björk, as Seeress, the blind sorceress). The scenes with Björn Hlynur Haraldsson outstandingly highlight the father and daughter relationship in crises.

The other roles of the mother, Maria, played by Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir, and Anna’s boyfriend Kári played by Vilberg Andri Pálsson are also portrayed very well as are the other roles by all the cast. Cinematographer, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, takes full advantage of the light and shades of the Icelandic landscape. For the indoor scenes he impressively utilises outside natural light as a focus for the action of the scenes.

The Mountain – Fjallið is the first officially vetted sustainable production in Iceland noted for “marking a significant milestone and contributing to the establishment of a standard for sustainability in the Icelandic film industry”, and has been awarded the prestigious Green Film Sustainability certification.

Although only her third full length feature film, Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir is a veteran Director of Photography, Producer, Sound, Editor, Script Supervisor, Writer, and Producer, The Mountain – Fjallið sees her at her peak power in this first-rate film. If the rest of the films in the Scandinavian Film Festival are of this standard, then it will be an outstanding Festival.

Reviewed by Rob McKinnon

Rating; 8 out of 10
Genre: Drama
YouTube trailer: https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/films/sca25-the-mountain

To book tickets to this, or any films in the Scandinavian Film Festival, please visit https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com.

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Small Sparkles and Little Pearls

Spanish Film Festival - Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert

Spanish Film Festival – Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert Rating

★★★★★

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Paco Plaza’s “Mugaritz: No Bread, No Dessert” is a poetic documentary that explores the inner workings of one of the world’s most inventive restaurants – Mugaritz. Led by chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, a self-proclaimed non-leader steering his energetic staff with generosity and “stepping back”, the restaurant closes from November to April each year to recreate its thematic menu. For 2025, the culinary concept is “What Cannot Be Seen”.

Plaza’s wobbly, handheld camera is distracting as it allows us to observe the detailed process of creation, trial and perfection through the eyes of what appears to be an overly caffeinated voyeur. There are many scenarios which could have been left out, minimised or replaced with more moments of tension (more than the one shown) to alleviate the feeling of being in an hour-and-a-half board meeting.

The music, composed by Mikel Salas, is bizarre. Salas uses cutlery and frying pans in an effort to match the poeticism of the cuisine, yet ends up making one feel as if they are listening to an Apple iPhone alarm instead of a sumptuous musical score. However, visually, the documentary delights.

Spanish Film Festival - Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert
Spanish Film Festival - Mugaritz. No Bread, No Dessert

The pastoral Basque countryside, the streamlined, cosy restaurant and the new ways in which the fragile dishes are put together all combine to give the audience a real feast for the eyes. There is an entrée tea ceremony where the cups are made from frozen, green tea leaves; then comes a broth only reachable by breaking into an edible bone with a rock and notably a soup-like-substance whereby the diner has to lean down and lick it out of a mould made to look like…well, it’s naughty.

Although “No Bread, No Dessert” has been applauded for its appeal to the masses, this reviewer feels this will appeal especially to the restauranteur and food lovers. It is fascinating for the risk-taker-chefs and those who are interested in combining cooking with storytelling. As Aduriz himself says, it is “…small sparkles and little pearls”.

To book tickets to this or any other film at the Spanish Film Festival, please visit https://spanishfilmfestival.com/.

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Marco, The Invented Truth – 2025 HSBC Spanish Film Festival

Spanish Film Festival - Marco, The Invented Truth

Marco, The Invented Truth Rating

★★★★★

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Based on a true story, and what an exceptional tale. Marco, The Invented Truth tells of the deception that charismatic Enric Marco unrelentingly and unapologetically carried with him for most of his life. Premiering in Australia at the 2025 HSBC Spanish Film Festival, this film is a gem that is well worth the investment of a packed 100 minutes of time.

A Spanish factory worker in Germany during World War II, Marco contrived the story of being a Holocaust survivor, in his mind to highlight the plight of approximately 9000 Spanish deportees who were imprisoned in concentration camps during the war – less than half of whom survived. Enric Marco was appointed as president of the Amincal Mauthausen, the association set up to defend the rights of the 9,000 Spanish people who were sent to Nazi concentration camps. His tireless work, which included giving numerous talks to school children, was revered.

His courage while suffering the horrors of Flossenbürg, the camp in which he claims to have been held prisoner, was given great respect and admiration, and through his efforts, Marco brought the organisation to great heights. That was until his false assertions were uncovered by historian Benito Bermejo who declared him a fake; he had never been in a concentration camp. The reality was that Enric Marco volunteered to travel to Germany in 1941 to work for the German war machine.

Spanish Film Festival - Marco, The Invented Truth
Spanish Film Festival - Marco, The Invented Truth

Although in fact Marco was imprisoned in Germany, it was not in a concentration camp but rather a Gestapo jail, accused of spreading Communist propaganda. A master storyteller who never apologised for his indiscretions upset many, although he was unrelenting in his belief that what he did, he did for good reasons.

Written by Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, Jorge Gil Munarriz, and Jose Mari Goenaga, the building of the lie was directed believably by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño as they work to take the audience on a roller coaster of emotions that fall somewhere between sympathy and dismay. 2025 Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Award winner for Best Actor, Spanish born Eduard Fernández’ depicts Enric Marco with extraordinary poise. If for no other reason, and there are many, Marco, The Invented Truth is worth watching for Fernández’ stunning performance alone.

To book tickets to films at the Spanish Film Festival, please visit https://spanishfilmfestival.com/.

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Spanish Film Festival: El 47

El 47

El 47 Rating

★★★★★

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The timing of the Spanish Film Festival could not be better, as Sydney plunges into winter, the warmth of the stories, the sun drenched cinematography, and the hot stories from Spain, are truly what the soul needs.

One of the stand outs of the program is the critically acclaimed, multi award winning film about a humble bus driver in charge of route 47 in Barcelona. Little did I expect to be so emotionally moved by a story about a bus driver! But what Manolo stands for is much more than his job, his bus route or career. He comes from a suburb on the outskirts of Barcelona, where each house was built by hand, brick by brick, by Spanish refugees escaping the impoverished and corrupt Andalusian and Extremaduran communities.

Even though the locals bought the land in the Torre Baro district with their own money, they have lived for years as second class citizens of Barcelona, with barely any access to running water, paved roads or political representation.

El 47
El 47

When Manolo, driving for the city Transport Services, sees the neighbourhood losing its young people, with his own home beginning to crumble away and his wife begging to move away, he decides on one last act of rebellion. After all other politically correct avenues fail – he decides to hijack his bus and take it up to the suburb which politicians labelled unreachable.

The beautiful subtlety of the main actor tugs on the heart strings as you witness what one man’s act of rebellion can achieve. Too often we are told one ‘man’ cannot achieve anything against the ‘greater machine’ but in this true story, that one man’s act of rebellion changes everything!

I stand with Manolo! I want to hijack my own proverbial bus and make a change for the better.

Follow this link to book tickets to El 47 or any other Spanish Films Festival showings @ https://spanishfilmfestival.com/.

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