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 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.
