Heima (2007)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

Dean DeBlois

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (Iceland)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

Heima. A tribute to the people and places that make up 'home.'

Plot:

In the summer of 2006, Sigur Rós returned home to play a series of free, unannounced concerts for the people of Iceland...

Plot Keywords:

Iceland | One Word Title | Sigur Ros

Awards:

1 nomination

Also Known As:

Sigur Rós - Heima (Iceland) (closing credits title)

Runtime:

UK:97 min

Country:

Iceland

Language:

English | Icelandic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (5.1 surround)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-3

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Company:

Klikk Film

Quotes:

Band member: It's kind of a safe heaven for us, Iceland. We are left on our own here.

Close to being a spiritual experience

After completing a 13-month world tour in which they promoted their fourth album, the rock-oriented "Takk", the band Sigur Ros came home to Iceland in the summer of 2006 to give free concerts as a sign of their gratitude to Iceland. Director Dean DeBlois (Lilo and Stich) was there to film them as they toured the stark, almost alien-looking landscape, performing a series of mostly unannounced concerts in a variety of locales throughout the country. There was an abandoned fishing town, a mountain foothill, a camp where locals are protesting the building of a dam, a wilderness outpost, a national park, a community coffee shop, and a large convert venue in Reykjavik which if course had been announced.

The result is a 97-minute documentary called Heima, which means "at home" or "homeland". The film features gorgeous photography of the country's mountains, rivers, valleys, and waterfalls as background for live performances of songs from all four Sigur Ros albums, as well as two two new songs: "Guitardjamm," and "A ferd til Breidarfjardar 1922," performed with poet Steindor Anderson. Though there are interviews in the film with the unassuming band members whose recordings sell in the millions, they are not very revealing. What does come across, however, is their humility, love of nature, and opposition to the exploitation of their land by global corporations. While I would have liked to have learned more about each member, this is not a film about the psychology of the band members or why they have been successful, but a celebration of the group's elegant and hypnotic music and their love letter to the people of Iceland.

Formed in the late 1990's, the band consists of singer-guitarist Jon Thor "Jonsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg "Goggi" Holm, keyboard player Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson and percussionist Orri Pall together with backup musicians. They are distinguished by experimental cutting edge songs lasting between six and thirteen minutes, enhanced by the otherworldly sound of Jonsi's falsetto voice. Their music has been called "glacial", "post-rock" and "transcendent". Whatever the label, their sounds have a way of penetrating your outer shell and reaching deeply into your soul.

Those that came to see the concerts were not the usual excited young people that you might expect at rock concerts, but folks of all ages including families with their children. The band's connection with their audience is very real and the concerts have a feeling of warmth and intimacy. Simply listening to the ethereal music of Sigur Ros is a revelation but seeing them on the big screen performing their music in their native country is a spiritual experience. If you are a lover of Sigur Ros, this is a must see. If you are not, Heima may make you one.