So that’s what they do in Iceland, eh? Modest they ain’t, apparently. This movie is supposedly a “film” (film being to movie what literature is to fiction), but I would personally call it porn. Porn with an amusing story, sure, but porn nonetheless. The kind of soft porn you see on Showcase.
And the plot is consistent with Showcase quality viewing. There are some highlights, really funny parts, but there’s mostly just a lot of unexplained sex. The idea that drives the story is that Hlynur (to pronounce his name properly you’d have to cut out your tongue), knocks up his mother’s girlfriend, and eventual fiancée, Lola.
Lola and Hlynur’s mom decide to keep the baby, though Hlynur’s lesbian mother does not know that her son is the baby’s father. (Confused?) So Hlynur is stuck knowing that his new brother is also his son, and that the baby’s step-father is also its grandmother.
Then there’s an Oedipal complex, a pregnant girlfriend and lots of hash and alcohol thrown in.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t flow at all, and there is no conclusion. Characters are being added right up until the last two minutes of the movie, and none of them have any purpose for being there. The only conclusion I could draw is that Icelandic people are crazy.
And yet I would still recommend seeing it, particularly if you’re slightly warped. Because the sex scenes are amusing, and, well, creative.
If there existed an Academy Award for most captivating use of a rocking chair, these zany Icelandic nymphos would have it in the bag. Not to mention the filming at times was ingenious—I could not help but laugh out loud at the presentation of the gratuitous filth.
Aside from the fragmentary plot, there was one major problem: the soundtrack.
The song “Lola” is played incessantly throughout the movie. They drill it into your brain. It’s funky that Lola (whom Hlynur obsesses over) remains in your head after the film, but the novelty is not worth the annoyance.
So the plot was inane and the music pissed me off, but the acting wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t good either, but I must commend “Hlynur” (translates to king schlong) on one count. Not bad for a white guy!
