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DEVIL'S ISLAND - dir. FRIDRIK THÓR FRIDIKSSON

Synopsis
Devil's island is a bitter sweet tale of Iceland in the fifties. Life is rough in Reykjavik's post-war slum of Camp Thule, where the abandoned US military barracks have been turned into makeshift homes. Struggling wives and their hard-working husbands try to make ends meet. The younger generation dreams of dollars, Rock'n'Roll and the American way of life. To celebrate or to drown their misery - they're never short of a good reason to booze. Devil's island vividly depicts the everyday life of a wacky family, their neighbours and friends and shows how some of their dreams come true and others don't.

Original title: Djöflaeyjan
English title: Devil's Island
Genre: Drama
Language: Icelandic

Director: Fridrik Thór Fridriksson
Scriptwriter: Einar Kárason
Main cast: Baltasar Kormákur, Gísli Halldórsson, Gudmundur Ólafsson, Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Magnús Ólafsson, Pálína Jónsdóttir, Saga Jónsdóttir, Sigurveig Jónsdóttir, Sveinn Thórir Geirsson
Editor: Skule Eriksen, Steingrímur Karlsson
Cinematographer: Ari Karlsson
Sound design: Kjartan Kjartansson
Music: Björgvin Halldórsson, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Costumes: Karl Aspelund
Make-up: Ragna Fossberg
Production manager: Inga Björk Sólnes
Producers: Egil Odegård, Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, Peter Aalbaek Jensen, Peter Rommel
Production company: Icelandic Film Corporation
Co-production companies: Filmhuset, Peter Rommel Film Production & Zentropa Entertainments

Country: Iceland
Sound: Dolby Digital
Length: 103 min.
Screening format: 35mm Colour
Film gauge/aspect ratio: 1:1.85.
Premiere date and year: October 1. 1996

Festivals & Awards
Berlin International Film Festival, Forum of New Cinema, 1997.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
the Firpesci Prize and the FICC prize
Norwegian International Film Festival, Haugesund, the Amanda prize as the Best Nordic Film of the Year
Edinburgh Film Festival.

FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON’s (Children of Nature, Cold Fever) Devil’s Island premiered at The Berlin International Film Festival, Forum of New Cinema, 1997.

Since then the film has been shown at over twenty film festivals. At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival it picked up the Firpesci Prize and the FICC prize, at the Norwegian International Film Festival, Haugesund, it received the Amanda prize as the Best Nordic Film of the Year, and it recently played at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Devil’s Island’s success at the box office in Iceland, where it headed the top ten in 1996, was a welcome boost for the Icelandic film industry. The film has been sold to the UK, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Reviews

Frank Noack of Der Tagesspiegel (Berlin), February 1997

Life goes on

“Seldom, all too seldom are there films that take their audience’s breath away, bring them gently to the edge.”

“Devil’s Island is about everything: love and hate, life and death, joy and sadness, tragic moments cut with slapstick lines. If there is a message, it is: Life goes on.”

“...the question how FRIDRIKSSON achieved such a work is not answered by beautiful framing. A good script or years of experience has nothing to do with it either. FRIDRIKSSON simply has that little extra “something” that can’t be learned. A genuine director, a clear vision. His colleagues in the Competition are lucky that Devil’s Island is “only” shown in the Forum.”

(translated from German)

ANGUS WOLFE MURRAY of (Scotland) The Scotsman * * * * * August 1997

“FRIDRIKSSON is a master filmmaker, whose inventive imagination, visual flair and sense of the absurd melds perfectly in this classic tale of a community drawn together by hardship, tragedy, sexual misadventure and jive music. All human life is here. Behaving badly. “

ALAN MORRISON of (Scotland) The List * * * * August 1997

“.......(Devil’s Island)...... confirms FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON’s growing stature in world cinema.”

“ Personal stories are woven through the ensemble drama as a collection of poverty-stricken families struggle with life in the 50s, and a slow-burning sympathy emerges for certain individuals. The look and tone of the film are in perfect harmony..."