Heartstone (film)

Heartstone (Hjartasteinn) is a 2016 Icelandic drama film directed by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson.[2] It tells the story of a strong friendship between two preteen boys in a small Icelandic fishing village and the emotional and sexual turbulence of adolescence.[3]

Heartstone
Film poster
Hjartasteinn
Directed byGuðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Written byGuðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
CinematographySturla Brandt Gøvlen[1]
Release date
  • 1 September 2016 (2016-09-01) (Venice)
  • 28 December 2016 (2016-12-28) (Iceland)
Running time
129 minutes
CountryIceland
LanguageIcelandic

It was screened in the Discovery section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] On 9 September 2016, the film won the Queer Lion at the 73rd Venice Film Festival.[5] It was the first Icelandic film to be shown in a competitive section of the Venice Film Festival.[6] It was also nominated for the 2017 Nordic Council Film Prize[7] and won the 2017 Icelandic Edda Awards.[8]

Cast
  • Baldur Einarsson as Þór/ Thor
  • Blær Hinriksson as Kristján/ Christian
  • Diljá Valsdóttir as Beta/ Beth
  • Katla Njálsdóttir as Hanna/ Hannah
  • Jónína Þórdís Karlsdóttir as Rakel
  • Rán Ragnarsdóttir as Hafdís
  • Søren Malling as Sven
  • Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir as Hulda
  • Gunnar Jónsson as Ásgeir
  • Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson as Sigurður

Production

The film is Guðmundur's first feature-length film and he began working on the script in 2007.[1] It was shot in the fall of 2015 in Borgarfjörður eystri, Seyðisfjörður, Vopnafjörður, and Dyrhólaey.[9][10]

Reception

The film was well received in Iceland[1] and won the 2017 Icelandic Edda Awards.[8] The script, the dialogue, and the directing of young actors received praise.[1] The cinematography by Sturla Brandt Gøvlen amplified Icelandic nature, with long shots of coastlines and fjords.[1]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.97/10.[11] On Metacritic, which assigns normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

References
  1. Brynja Hjálmsdóttir. "Hjartasteinn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 December 2019 – via Klapptré.
  2. "Heartstone by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson wins an award in the Netherlands". Icelandic Film Centre. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. Rooney, David. "Heartstone – Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  4. "Heartstone". Toronto International Film Festival. 7 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  5. Boni, Federico (11 September 2016). "Venezia 2016, i film in gara per il Queer Lion – Leone LGBT della Mostra". Cineblog. Blogo. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  6. "Heartstone becomes first Icelandic film to compete in Venice". Icelandic Film Centre. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  7. Pham, Annika (22 August 2017). "Five Nordic Films Nominated for Nordic Council Film Prize 2017". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  8. "Hjartasteinn sigurvegari kvöldsins". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  9. "Hjartasteinn fékk þrenn verðlaun í Varsjá". Vísir.is. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  10. Ásta Hlín Magnúsdóttir (26 July 2016). "Kvikmynd tekin upp á Borgarfirði keppir um verðlaun á stórri hátíð". Austurfrétt.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  11. "Heartstone (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  12. "Heartstone Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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