Mýrin (2006)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Baltasar Kormákur

Writers:

Arnaldur Indriðason (novel)
Baltasar Kormákur (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 October 2006 (Iceland)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A murder opens up a bleak trail of long buried secrets and small town corruption for a worn out police detective and his squad.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Neurofibromatosis | Iceland | Based On Novel

Awards:

10 wins

Cast

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson	...	Erlendur (as Ingvar E. Sigurðsson)
Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir	...	Eva Lind
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson	...	Sigurður Óli
Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir	...	Elínborg
Atli Rafn Sigurðsson	...	Örn
Kristbjörg Kjeld	...	Katrín
Þorsteinn Gunnarsson	...	Holberg
Theódór Júlíusson	...	Elliði
Þórunn Magnea Magnúsdóttir	...	Elín
Guðmunda Elíasdóttir	...	Theodóra
Walter Grímsson	...	Handrukkarar
Sveinn Olafur Gunnarsson		(as Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson)
Magnús Ragnarsson	...	Lögfræðingur
Rafnhildur Rósa Atladótir	...	Kola
Jón Sigurbjörnsson	...	Albert

Also Known As:

Jar City (International: English title) (USA) (new title)
Der Tote aus Nordermoor (Germany)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Iceland | Germany | Denmark

Language:

Icelandic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | UK:15 (2008) | Ireland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Hvalsnes, Reykjanes, Iceland

Company:

Bavaria Pictures

Trivia:

The little town in Keflavík is Hvalsnes.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Jar City (2010)

Well-crafted police thriller with more than most of the genre.

Inspector Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) has to investigate a "messy and pointless" murder. A dirty old man has had his head bashed in in his flat. "Typical Icelandic", he thinks.

Iceland just touches the Arctic circle. It's a long way from anywhere else. It is grey and gritty, spectacular and melancholy, buffeted by blasts of wind, snow and steam. Against this background Erlendur doggedly untangles the connections and the crimes of the past, digging up corpses and secrets shameful or tragic. Landscape and society alike are revealed and commented on, drily and laconically.

Being based on a novel by Iceland's most successful crime writer, the characters are as well known to the home audience as Rebus, for instance, is in Britain, and carry enough of the baggage of real life to make them credible and sympathetic. There are visual themes of burials and exhumations, post-mortems, pathology labs and fast food, and a sound track of male voices shading into electronic moans and growls, which in turn dissolve into the wind. It's a very well-constructed package, which is thought provoking, gruesome, touching and funny, and it's certainly worth seeing.