DEVIL'S ISLAND
A Film By Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
From the Director of Cold Fever
comes a bittersweet tale of Iceland in the fifties.
1997 / 35mm / color/ Dolby SR / 1:85
Distribution Contact:
Artistic License Films
250 West 57th Street #606
New York, NY 10107
212.265.9124 Fax 212.262.9299
Publicity Contact:
Susan Norget
125 East 7th Street, #5W
New York, NY 10009
212.477.3194 Fax 212.477.3211
" ... a superior family saga through which Fridriksson shows the painful consequences of a clash of two inimical cultures."
- Time Out-Edinburgh
"... a whimsical Icelandic saga which explores the... themes of aspiration an isolation... the film has more charms than a barrel of puffins..."
- Matthew Sweet
" ... the humor has a bright, fresh sheen. The movie sings... The picture has crazy logic, a twangy rock 'n roll soundtrack, and comic rhythms that might have come from out of space."
- The Independent
" ... a bright, tangy, highly engaging account of the old world trying to get to grips with the new."
- Tom Charity, Time Out
" Fridriksson's film has enough colorful characters to justify the sense of foreboding the area provoked in the good people of Reykjavik."
- Dan Glaister, The Guardian
Synopsis
DEVIL'S ISLAND is a bittersweet tale of Iceland set in the fifties.
The Rock and Roll years visit Iceland in this raucous saga of a community of outcasts living in the barracks left behind by American forces after World War II. Specifically, it's about Baddi and Danni, two children brought up by their grandparents. Their flirtatious mother marries an American pilot and moves to Kansas. Baddi decides to pay the couple a visit in Kansas and returns to Devil's Island a true hero, flashing a new American accent and a big car. His stardom soon fades however, and his mother divorces the pilot thrusting the quirky family into another adventure.
The spectacular Icelandic sunsets are punctuated by equally spectacular after-dark boozing in this depiction of an unfamiliar world at the crossroads of tradition and youth culture. Says director Fridriksson: "These outsiders, that lived in a Reykjavik ghetto in the fifties, reminded me of my favorite film, 'Rocco and His Brothers.' With this film I hope to reveal a hidden world that few people knew existed in Iceland."
DEVIL'S ISLAND was directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, written by Einar Karason and produced by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Peter Rommel, Egil Odegaard, and Peter Aalbaek Jenson.
Cast & Crew
Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Producers: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Peter Rommel
Egil Odegaard
Peter Aalbaek Jensen
Script: Einar Kárason
Line Producer: Ari Kristinsson
Director of Photography: Ari Kristinsson
Production Manager: Inga Björk Solnes
Production Designer: Arni Pall Jahannsaon
Editor: Steingrimur Karisson
Skule Eriksen
Sound Design: Kjartan Kjartarisson
Costume Designer: Karl Aspelund
Composer: Hilmar Örn Jilmarsson
Supervision of additional songs: Björgvin Jalidorsson
CAST:
Baltasar Kormakur Baddi
Gisli Halldorsson Thomas
Sigurveig Jonsdottir Karolina
Halldora Geirhardsdottir Dolly
Sveinn Geirsson Danni
Guomudur Olafsson Grettir
Ingvar E. Sigurdsson Grjoni
Magnus Oafsson Hreggvidur
Pallna Jonsdottir Hveragerdur
Saga Jonsdottir Gogo
Amijotur Sigurdsson Bobo
Oskar Jonasson Lul Lul
Ævar Orn Josepsson Maggi Bjuti
Helga Braga Jonsdottir Greta
Margaret Akadottir Fia
Sigurdur Sigurjonsson Toti
Gudrun Gisladottir Porjunnur
Arni Tryggvason Grjoni's Grandfather
Production Companies:
Icelandic Film Corporation, Reykjavik, Peter Rommel Film production, Berlin, Filmhuset, Osio and Zentropa Entertainments, Copenhagen.
About The Director
FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON was born in Iceland in 1954. Almost totally self-educated in cinematography, he started making 16mm films while still in highschool. He ran the University's film club, founded Iceland's first film magazine, and helped set up the Reykjavik Film Festival, which he presently chairs. Fridriksson directed non-commercial documentaries, such as Rock in Reykjavik (1982) and Icelandic Cowboys (1984), before his first feature, White Whales (1987). He then directed several films for Icelandic Television before making Children of Nature (1991), which had a wider theatrical release abroad then any other previous Icelandic film before. It was awarded the nordic Amanda Prize as the best Scandinavian film of 1994. Cold Fever (1995), his most international production, has earned world-wide distribution and has been enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. Its many international prizes include "The Rosebud" at the 1995 Edinburgh Film Festival. Fridriksson's company the Icelandic Film Corporation, has been involved in almost every Icelandic film made in recent years as well as co-producing several international productions.
Filmography:
The Blacksmith (doc, 35 min, 1978)
Rock in Reykjavik (doc, 83 min, 1982)
Icelandic Cowboys (doc, 82 min, 1984)
White Whales (feature, 80 min, 1987)
Children of Nature (feature, 85 min, 1991)
Movie Days (feature, 90 min, 1994)
Cold Fever (feature, 87 min, 1995)
Devil's Island (feature, 104 min, 1997)