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

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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.

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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.]

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

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3/31/2023

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

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