Sarah Ward hjá Screen skrifar um Hjartastein Guðmundar Arnars Guðmundssonar sem nú er sýnd á Feneyjahátíðinni. Ward segir myndina hrífandi og næmlega gerða og vaða inná svið þroskasögumynda með réttum skammti af sjálfstrausti, samkennd og tærum stíl.
Ward segir m.a.:
After earning a special mention at Cannes in 2013 for his short film Whale Valley, and then developing this, his debut feature script, through the festival’s Cinéfondation, first-time writer/director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson is justifiably confident in his approach. And with Victoria and Ramscinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen providing visuals that flit between expansive rural vistas and enquiring close-ups of the feature’s teenage characters, the same can be said for style.
Heartstone is a tale filled with all the usual milestones and moments of youth, set in a remote coastal village where smashing fish against a dock, trying to evade cheeky taunts, stepping through sheep carcasses and secretly sleeping over at girls’ houses rank among the main summer pastimes of best friends Theo (Baldur Einarsson) and Christian (Blær Hinriksson).
When the oft-inseparable pair aren’t escaping their respective family tensions, general small-town boredom and the scrutiny of living in an insular community through the usual adolescent tomfoolery, they’re embarking upon individual quests of romantic and sexual exploration that threaten to drastically change their bond.
As familiar as that narrative may sound, the underlying story is loosely inspired by the filmmaker’s own childhood — and it’s no suprise that this tender, touching effort that bows at Venice Days as Iceland’s first film to compete at the festival, before making its way to Toronto. Fans of Celine Sciamma’s Water Lilies, Tomboyand Girlhood will spy similarities in Guðmundsson’s astute, empathetic approach to his youthful protagonists, their unaffected interactions and the complex issues that they navigate, which should boost Heartstone’s international release prospects.
Og ennfremur:
If Guðmundsson struggles with anything in his initial full-length outing after winning more than 50 awards for his five short films, it’s with length. Thankfully, though its 129-minute duration is certainly felt, editors Anne Østerud and Janus Billeskov Jansen ensure the feature’s running time never becomes wearying — only as patient as its potent, poignant tale demands.
Sjá nánar hér: ‘Heartstone’: Venice Review | Reviews | Screen
