Hjartasteinn Guðmundar Arnars Guðmundssonar hlaut sérstök dómnefndarverðlaun á Alþjóðlegu kvikmyndahátíðinni í Dallas í Bandaríkjunum, sem lauk um helgina.
Þetta eru 28. alþjóðlegu verðlaun myndarinnar.
Kvikmyndavefurinn Festworks skrifar um myndina frá Dallas hátíðinni og kallar hana „meiriháttar afrek“.
Þar segir m.a.:
If you want to really feel what tension is – muscular tension, dramatic tension, visual tension, the relentless stretching of the body, the psyche, the vast windswept landscape of Iceland and maybe even an imaginary reel of film – then director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Heartstone is for you. But it comes at a cost. This film is a harrowing look into the vulnerability and frustration of our tween years, that moment in life where our bodies are in so much of a hurry to grow, we can feel the insides straining to pop out of the skin. Guðmundsson trawls in elements from this period of his own life, pulling at it like taffy, crafting an intensely tactile confection. It’s often an unbelievably riveting viewing experience, sometimes to the point of discomfort.
Og ennfremur:
This is basically a cast of children, some of whom are very young, performing to a level that should make any Oscar-winner wilt with humility. So much is this the case, viewers may be alarmed at just how open and vulnerable these young people make themselves for the film. Amazingly, this is not an exploitative film. Comparisons to Larry Clark’s infamous Kids may seem appropriate, but there’s a much higher sense of purpose in Heartstone. Those familiar with Truffaut’s Small Change may find the more familiar reverent tropes, but Guðmundsson’s vision is the superior piece. Utilizing the region’s iconic topography to additionally strain against the kids, even geological and meteorological forces seem to obey the director’s baton. And the very final shot, the final frame even, brings the tail of the film right to the head. The visual transition is caught in wild nature, like much of the film, and offers a tiny flicker of hope – don’t blink or you’ll miss it – in a grand spontaneous gesture, as far from phony as you get in cinema. Truly, this work is a grand achievement, Guðmundsson’s first feature, hopefully foreshadowing an equally brilliant career to come.
