101 REYKJAVIK -------------
30 year old Hylnur (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, "Angels of the Universe") is an able young man who lives on disability and strives to do nothing. He's taken care of by his incredibly patient mother Berglind (Hanna Maria Karlsdottir) who succeeds in shaking him out of his stupor by inviting a visiting flamenco instructor, Lola (Victoria Abril, "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!") to stay in their tiny apartment at "101 Reykjavik."
Adapted from the novel by its author Hallgrimur Helgason and director Baltasar Kormakur (seen as the mad scientist in "No Such Thing"), "101 Reykjavik" is the romantic comedy with a twist that "Kissing Jessica Stein" professes to be.
Hylnur's biggest problems in life is the lack of a.m. porno shows broadcast during his morning masturbation ritual. He can barely be bothered getting dressed and the local unemployment office has to nag him to make an appearance. He rallies himself to go to the same nightclub on weekends with his buddies, leaving with Hofi (Thrudur Vilhjalmsdottir) for uninspired sex. When Lola arrives, her flamboyant manner and disgust at his lack of ambition put Hylnur off balance. Mum has to leave for New Year's and the two get drunk and have wild sex all over the apartment. Then the shoe drops - Lola is mom's new lover. Then the other shoe drops - Hofi is pregnant. Then things get really complicated.
Kormakur gives us a look at both the nightlife Reykjavik's becoming famed for and the ennui of its youth who party for lack of anything else to do. Absurdist comedy abounds, such as when Hylnur's accosted for paying other people's expiring parking meters by a flustered meter man or when he imagines massacring his boring family after Christmas dinner (they comment on the weather before watching a video of themselves having the same conversation a year earlier). The Kinks' "Lola" is not only used as Lola's signature tune, but its lyrics are woven into the Icelandic story as well. All this from a film which begins with its hero opining that 'Life is an interruption from death.'
"101 Reykjavik" is funny, sexy, and utterly moored in its distinctive landscape.
B
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