Maður eins og ég (2002)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Róbert I. Douglas

Writers:

Róbert I. Douglas (writer)
Árni Ásgeirsson (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 2002 (Iceland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

East meets north..... the far north!

Plot:

A postal worker has some lunch in a chinese restaurant and falls in love with the waitress, who happens to be chinese...

Plot Keywords:

China | Chinese | Chinese Restaurant | Male Female Relationship | Asia

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jón Gnarr	...	Júlli
Stephanie Che	...	Qi
Sigurður Sigurjónsson	...	Valur (as Siggi Sigurjóns)
Þorsteinn Guðmundsson	...	Arnar
Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir	...	Magga (as Katla Margrét Þorvaldsdóttir)
Baldur T. Hreinsson	...	Gunnar (as Baldur Trausti Hreinsson)
Þorsteinn Bachmann	...	Dagur
Jóna Guðrún Jónsdóttir	...	Elín
Guðný Helgadóttir	...	Dóra
Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	...	Anna
Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir	...	Hildur
Ingibjörg Reynisdóttir	...	Súsí
Jón Atli Jónason	...	Rósi
Sveinn Geirsson	...	Oddur
Xu Wen	...	Wei older sister

Also Known As:

A Man Like Me (Europe: English title) (International: English title)
A Man Like Me, a Woman Like You (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Hong Kong | Iceland

Language:

Icelandic | Mandarin | English | Cantonese | German

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Blue Lagoon, Grindavík, Reykjanes, Iceland

Company:

Icelandic Filmcompany, The

Trivia:

Baltasar Kormákur was cast, but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.

Movie Connections:

Features First Blood (1982)

A clash of the same culture

What is very interesting about this movie is how it brings together two really similar cultures. While Stephanie Che in the movie is from the mainland, she is actually a rising star in today's Hong Kong cinema recently starring in "Men Suddenly in Black" and her character really reflects the ex-patriot longing felt by many who leave HK. This is placed next to Iceland which is its own isolated world from the rest of Europe. Ex-pats of Iceland also have the same feeling as those of HK, of leaving a very small place but having intense longing for it still. J¨®n Gnarr's character is like an expat living in his own world, trying to get by. This is where the comedy kicks in everywhere. The movie even has time to include a whole satirical commentary on pyramid schemes which Gnarr gets into which affect even places like Iceland. The central attention of the movie in the end is the social commentary. Iceland knows just as little as Hong Kong, vice versa. Us Americans can perceive the subtle racism commentary but actually we realize Iceland, regardless of how developed and advanced a country, is still culturally a small Midwest town. In spite of black cardigan sweaters, cashmere scarfs, and hip furniture, ignorance is a pervalent trait which someone on an isolated world can't escape. The movie also achieves a successful combination of Icelandic, English, Chinese Cantonese, and Chinese Mandarin. Icelandic and Cantonese of which are languages which are being threatened to diminish at the hands of the accompanying one. The title A Man Like Me harkens really to Gnarr's situation living alone, finding money, trying love at middle-age when everyone else is already better off. But the story shows how so much is out of control of your own and the end lets you know life is just life.