Leikstjórnarfrumraun Sigurjóns Kjartanssonar, gamanmyndin Fullt hús, verður frumsýnd í febrúar næstkomandi. Hilmir Snær Guðnason fer með aðalhlutverk. Markelsbræður framleiða.
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Kjartansson has shaped Icelandic TV drama for the last two decades – notably as head of development of Baltasar Kormákur’s RVK Studios between 2012-2021 where he contributed to RÚV’s hit show Trapped and Netflix’s Katla.
He’s also made an imprint on the local comedy scene and music world through his metal band HAM and as composer of the cult Icelandic film Sódóma Reykjavík.
Now the versatile Icelander has added a new string to his bow – feature film directing.
Based on Kjartansson’s original script, Grand Finale (Lokatónleikarnir) centres on a chamber orchestra in financial dire straits. To turn on the gold faucet of the sponsors, the group recruits a renowned cellist – Klemens. Shiny on the surface, the latter is also rotten to his moral core. As the grand concert is being prepared, desperation grows and the members are ready to commit any crime for the concert to succeed.
In the title role as the cello virtuoso is star actor Hilmir Snaer Gudnason (Lamb, Blackport, White, White Wedding). Co-stars include Helga Braga Jónsdóttir (Katla, Fractures) and Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir (Trapped, Sisterhood).
The instigators of the project were the kings of the indie film scene and broad comedy: the Markell brothers – aka Thorkell Harðarson and Örn Marinó Arnarson, credited for The Last Fishing Trip which sold more than 35,000 tickets during the pandemic in 2020.
Speaking to us, Kjartansson said the Markell brothers first contacted him, asking him to write and direct a movie for them. “They have this wonderful concept of producing low budget movies set in mostly one location. So my mind started buzzing – I had this idea for many years to make a TV series about the inner drama of a chamber orchestra. Since then, I’ve seen several attempts on the subject and I shelved this idea – but it never went away. So when I got the proposal to make a move I immediately came back to the subject and I plotted the whole movie on my way home from the meeting (it takes me around 45 minutes to drive to my home town from midtown Reykjavik!).
Thorkell Harðarson says when he and Marinó Arnarson asked Kjartansson to pitch the idea for a comedy – they expected “a sci-fi caper or vampire/werewolf thing” and were taken aback by his idea to do a film on classical musicians.
“Grand Finale is a comedy dealing with pretty gruesome things…MeToo and the powerful ass-grabbers that seem to get away with everything every doggone time. Not this time though,” says Harðarson.
Discussing his experience on directing his first film, Kjartansson said: “When you have all the best actors – most of whom I had in mind when I wrote the script – the shooting period was easy. They instantly got where I was going with this and I could almost sit back and enjoy their portrayal of my script. I also had the privilege to get my favourite DOP, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson [Trapped, Katla] whom I had worked with for decades and other great talents whom I’ve worked with over the years. So I was being pampered and I never felt I was being pressured for time. Coming from television where you sometimes have to shoot 7 pages per day, this was a walk in the park!!”
Shot in 22 days, the film was produced by Harðarson and Marinó Arnarson for Nýjar Hendur ehf, with support from the Icelandic Film Centre and the local tax rebates. Myndform is handling the local release, scheduled for February 2024.
