Nói (2003)

It’s been called the “Icelandic Donnie Darko” and to a certain extent that description is fairly accurate, though it lacks the surrealist elements that gave Donnie Darko that mystifying quality. None the less, Nói is steeped in the magic realism of the Icelandic landscape. Tragic and absurdly comic, it is a film about the existential condition of human existence. Oh, you got to love a movie that can work Kierkegaard into the script!

Nói is a high school boy in the middle of nowhere on that frozen rock that is Iceland. He’s being raised by his grandmother and his sometimes present father. His exact history is unknown and the complete unexplained absence of his mother seems to be some other story that either has no bearing on this one or would simply complicate things even more. So without much to go on we are simply presented with the circumstances of Nói’s life.

Unmotivated by the harsh landscape, Nói has little interest in school and yet we learn early on that he is more than just a smart kid, he’s possibly a genius who’s bored by exams and life in general. His days are redundant and his only hope is to one day escape this icy country to the sun and warmth of a far a way place. Yet despite his intelligence, he seems trapped in his life; almost paralyzed within it. When finally motivated to take action, he fails miserably. Yet this isn’t the whole story by any means.

This is the directorial debut of filmmaker, Dagur Kári that took prizes in ten international film festivals in 2003, including the Rotterdam film festival, London Film Festival and Edinburgh Film Festival. These awards were well deserved as it’s one of the tightest films I’ve seen in a long while. The cinematography is gorgeous as the coldness of the Icelandic landscape comes off the screen. The story is completely gripping from beginning to end as the bond between Nói and the audience is quickly established.

There’s a friend of mine who is rather fond of saying, “life is uncertain, begin with desert!” Nói is ultimately a Carpe Diem story. If Nói, our existential hero, will not take action himself, then life will take action for him. This was an inspiring and entertaining film that has something for anyone who has ever suffered the ennui of life.

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