Comments on: Jar City

By: Lyla Langhorne

Lyla Langhorne — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:01:06 +0000

Great Blog. Just not sure why I am up in the middle of the night reading this.

By: Collin

Collin — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:40:09 +0000

Great review, bro. Writing like this keeps bringing me back. I sound like a broken record to everyone I know whenever a movie discussion arises: “Well, my brother said …”

By: kristena

kristena — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Let me clarify: I was referring to the portrayal of Iceland (and not my husband) in that first statement. Though Evan was suffering during that season of his life, he is not perpetually afflicted.

By: kristena

kristena — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:32:25 +0000

Can we say ’seasonal effective disorder?’ Or perhaps perpetual effective disorder would be more appropriate.

I remember thinking that the only redemptive element in the film was the detective’s relationship with his daughter. Everything else was so incredibly bleak and sad.

By: Craig Kennedy

Craig Kennedy — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:27:07 +0000

That was an awesome opening Evan. Made me want to see the film in question even though I had to skip the rest of the review.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:48:44 +0000

Haha, yeah it’s hard to know if we should be proud of or embarrassed by some American tastes.

Regarding the CSI influence, I think I found more in the jaded way in which these investigators go about their work, and to be more specific, the way in which they talk (e.g., on finding a decapitated body – “Looks like he lost his head last night, huh?”).

Do people really talk like that? Granted, in Jar City we get to know Erlendur (and his loneliness) well enough to understand where he’s coming from, but it always strikes me as ridiculous and I found myself having difficulty separating this film from those shows.

Was Jar Citycompletely cliched? No way. Did it wrap up too tidily? For me, yes, especially the final confrontation.

I’m being way too picky here for no good reason. The positive aspects that you identify well outweigh the negative ones, and really, how often do we get to see Iceland, anyway?

By: Luke Harrington

Luke Harrington — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:43:33 +0000

Miles Davis?

By: Evan Derrick

Evan Derrick — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:51:15 +0000

Oh no, I hate CSI. As a bubblegum distraction it works alright, but the whole thing is a storytelling sham, and when you’re watching top notch TV like Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and The Wire, CSI feels like pathetic, hollow entertainment.

With that said, I do like the mystery solving aspects of the show (the problem being that their mysteries are populated with idiots), and for me Jar City was everything CSI is not. It retained the best parts of it and jettisoned the cliches. I found the crime solving aspects genuinely engaging, although what really registered with me was the abiding sense of loneliness that inhabited every frame.

And really, since when has anything that Americans have made popular been that great?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:41:59 +0000

Excellent review, Evan. You may have picked up that I didn’t find Jar City as powerful as you, but I did appreciate many of the same aspects you did, and I fully understand your personal connection to its deepest moments.

Certainly, the landscape was something to behold, and the acting was top notch (though I didn’t so much like the creepy dad).

Where I failed to connect with the film was the moment it really became, as you hint, a “CSI” episode, a show that I really don’t enjoy. Obviously I’m in the minority here as it’s generally considered the most popular TV show in America, but nonetheless, here I stand. As such, Jar City is a ringing recommendation for fans of the show.

For the rest of us (me), it’s an otherwise interesting trip to a very unique place (I always heard Iceland was actually green and warm…), and there’s enough going on to keep you entertained.