Volcano – Eldfjall (2011)

Directed by: Runar Runarsson | 99 minutes | drama | Actors: Theodór Júlíusson, Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir, Auður Drauma Bachmann, Kristín Davíðsdóttir, Benedikt Erlingsson, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsald, Harald G.úrnson B. , Katla M. Thorgeirsdottir

‘Volcano’ (‘Eldfjall’) is a moving and soulfully intimate film about a man who has recently retired and whose life will be radically changed by a series of dramatic events. Hannes (Theodór Júlíusson) is a feared janitor at his school. When he slams the door behind him on his last working day (and receives a somewhat mocking farewell speech), he sees a dark picture of the future. To the outside world he plays the tough indifferent bonk, but inside he is a barrel full of suppressed emotions. On his way home he first wants to take his own life, but changes his mind.

At home he is an extremely unpleasant and sometimes rude fellow who constantly criticizes his wife Anna (Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir). He has a bad relationship with his adult children Ari (Þorsteinn Bachmann) and Telma (Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir), they can and hardly want to talk to him. His refuge is an old fishing boat with which he goes out to sea. Therein lies his happiness and he can escape the foul-mouthed old grunt he always is. When his old boat threatens to sink due to a leak on the high seas, it seems as if he is at peace with it and surrenders to his then inevitable end. At the last moment he reconsiders (again) and manages to stay afloat by pumping hard. When he gets home earlier than expected due to tugboat assistance, he overhears a conversation between his children. This conversation is so confronting for him that he realizes that he has actually ruined the lives of his wife and children.

Hannes, in the clumsy manner of a rough thump in the evening, changes course and in a few words there is talk of rapprochement and some tenderness in a marriage that has long been completely rutted. Then tragedy strikes: Anna has a stroke and can no longer speak or move. The only emotion she can show is restrained crying. Hannes decides to take care of it, but is strongly reproached by his children who tell him that he only wants to do this out of guilt, after he has ruined her whole life. They want to have their mother cared for in a nursing home. What follows is a touching story of a tall clumsy man who, in all his clumsiness, lovingly takes care of his wife at home with the help of home care. When he realizes more and more that Anna’s fate will not change and Anna also cries continuously, he is faced with a diabolical dilemma….

Director Rúnar Rúnarsson makes a strong and impressive debut with this small-scale story that has been filmed modestly and tenderly and that develops at a leisurely pace in strong cinematographic imagery. Theodór Júlíusson plays the role of Hannes magisterially, but Margret Helga Johannsdottir also convinces as his wife Anna. Magnificent landscape images and the typical Icelandic light enhance the message of the story, to which the musical score contributes greatly. ‘Volcano’ is an intense and penetrating story that asks basic life questions about love, guilt, compassion and the dignity of life without judging yourself. The latter can be done by the spectator himself.