Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Heartstone/Hjartasteinn (2016) - Guðmundsson arrives with a stunning puberty drama for the ages

3/31/2023

Heartstone/Hjartasteinn (2016) - Guðmundsson arrives with a stunning puberty drama for the ages

♥♥♥♥♥♥

An atmospheric purple sky looms over two young male friends on this neat poster for Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson's Heartstone

Thor and Christian are best friends in a countryside part of Iceland, where in the midst of the wildness of nature they go through a virtual juvenile whirlwind of emotions.

Heartstone is written, co-produced and directed by debuting Icelandic master filmmaker Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Þröng sýn (2005, short)). The English title is a literal translation of the original Icelandic title.

With a sensory, (thematically) intense range of images in nature and involving animals, often dead, Heartstone kicks the adult construction that is 'the harmonic-calm idea of puberty (and nature)' with gorgeous visuals and performances that are good almost beyond comprehension. From both Baldur Einarsson (Bömmer (2020, miniseries)) and Blær Hinriksson (Rainbow Party (2015, short)) as the boys Thor and Christian the camera catches telling looks, palpable electricity, moments of bubbling friendship as well as tears, and more poignant depth and feeling than one ordinarily sees. Einarsson and Hinriksson both deliver brutally honest, truly incredible performances.

Heartstone works as a private time traveling machine back to the volatile emotional vortex of puberty that we all have to pass through, and its third act moved and upset me deeply. It is an absolutely peerless film about how it might always be damned painful to realize that one is a stone fish.

Top 10: Best gay-themed titles

Watch a short clip from the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 446k $

= Uncertain

[Heartstone premiered 1 September (Venice Days) and runs 129 minutes. Guðmundsson began working on the script in 2007. Shooting took place in Iceland. The film's biggest markets were Iceland with 324k $ (72.6 % of the total gross), Denmark with 85k $ (19.1 %) and South Korea with 35k $ (7.8 %). It may have a higher gross than listed here, since several markets it was released in regrettably do not figure on the film's BoxOfficeMojo site. The film won 9/16 Edda awards (Iceland's Oscar), a European Film award and was nominated for the Nordic Council prize, among other honors. Guðmundsson returned with Beautiful Beings/Berdreymi (2022). Einarsson returned in Draugurinn (2018, short) and theatrically in Agnes Joy (2019); Hinriksson in Shells (2018, short) and theatrically in From Iceland to Eden (2019). Heartstone is fresh at 84 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heartstone?

No comments:

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

3/31/2023

Heartstone/Hjartasteinn (2016) - Guðmundsson arrives with a stunning puberty drama for the ages

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (4-24)

My Blog List