Angels of the Universe

Englar alheimsins

Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway

2000

102 Min

Color

1.85:1

Icelandic

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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PROD Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, Anna María Karlsdóttir, Alexander Bohr

CAST Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Baltasar Kormákur, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Björn Jörundur Friðbjörnsson, Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Theódór Júlíusson, Friðrik Steinn Friðriksson

ED Skule Eriksen, Sigvaldi J. Kárason

PROD DES Jon Steinar Ragnarsson

MUSIC Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

Toronto (Contemporary World Cinema), Karlovy Vary (Competition): Special Mention, FIPRESCI Prize, Edinburgh (Director's Focus), Sundance (World Cinema), Göteborg

Synopsis

Portraits of mental illness are very tricky: it’s difficult to strike a balance between the pain, suffering and even horror while avoiding either sentimentalizing or sensationalizing it. Based on Einar Guðmundsson’s prize-winning novel, Friðrik Thór Friðriksson’s finest film is the story of Páll (Ingvar Sigurðsson), a diagnosed schizophrenic, and his relationships to his family, childhood friends and the woman he loves—until his worsening mental state sends him to a psychiatric hospital. There, Páll meets a new cast of characters, including other patients as well as hospital staff. Friðriksson creates a wonderfully nuanced portrait of Páll, moving between his moments of calm and self-reflexion and times when he’s clearly out of control. The film was lauded at dozens of international festivals, while lead actor Sigurðsson won the “People’s Choice” prize for Best Actor at the 2000 European Film Awards. –FilmLinc

Director

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (b. 1954) gained international recognition with his feature Children of Nature (1991) which was nominated for the Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film. Fridriksson’s films are both deeply personal and have a strong rooting in Icelandic culture, often depicting characters at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. Films by Fridriksson: Rock in Reykjavik, White Whales, Movie Days, Children of Nature, Cold Fever, Devil’s Island, Angels of the Universe, Falcons.

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson started his film making carrier with a series of experimental films and documentaries in the early 1980’s. In 1987, he founded THE ICELANDIC FILM CORPORATION, which has become Iceland’s most important production company, producing Fridrikssons films as well as working with other Icelandic directors and producers. Through Fridrikssons international reputation the company has built a network of internationally well-established co-production partner companies, including Lars… read more

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (b. 1954) gained international recognition with his feature Children of Nature (1991) which was nominated for the Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film. Fridriksson’s films are both deeply personal and have a strong rooting in Icelandic culture, often depicting characters at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. Films by Fridriksson: Rock in Reykjavik, White Whales, Movie Days, Children of Nature, Cold Fever, Devil’s Island, Angels of the Universe, Falcons.

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson started his film making carrier with a series of experimental films and documentaries in the early 1980’s. In 1987, he founded THE ICELANDIC FILM CORPORATION, which has become Iceland’s most important production company, producing Fridrikssons films as well as working with other Icelandic directors and producers. Through Fridrikssons international reputation the company has built a network of internationally well-established co-production partner companies, including Lars von Triers Zentropa and most recently, Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope. As a director, Fridriksson gained international recognition and critical acclaim with his second feature CHILDREN OF NATURE (1991) which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.

Growing up in Iceland in the sixties, Fridriksson was influenced by American films but his exposure to Kurosawa’s works was of crucial importance in his decision to become a filmmaker. Co-writing with two of Iceland’s most acclaimed novelists and script-writers Einar Már Gudmundsson (CHILDREN OF NATURE, ANGELS OF THE UNIVERSE, MOVIEDAYS) and Einar Kárason (WHITE WHALES, DEVILS ISLAND, FALCONS) Fridriksson has been acclaimed for the strong visual style of his films and his gift for stunning images. His films combine a wry sense of humour and genuine solidarity with the characters. Fridriksson’s films are both deeply personal and have a strong rooting in Icelandic culture often depicting characters at the crossroads of tradition and modernity.

Uniquely Fridriksson’s films have both touched a chord with local audiences in Iceland who have flocked to see Fridriksson’s vision of themselves (more than 50 % of the Icelandic population saw his film, ANGELS OF THE UNIVERSE, released in 2000) as well as moved audiences from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

Fridriksson’s own identity as a filmmaker is that of a storyteller within a tradition that goes back to the writers of the Icelandic Sagas, more than a thousand years ago. —Icelandic Film Corporation

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