Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Stephen Nolan Viewing life through the lens of an uninspired, socially defective, 30 year old man doesn't seem particularly uplifting. Geek Hylnur, the protagonists of the film '101 Reykjavik', doesn't want much out of life. He is content living at home with his mother, spending time at the local bar and surviving purely on the social benefits the state provides. However, the story of Hlynur transpires to be one full of fantasy, humor and lust. And in the end, it gives the audience the hope that maybe meaning can be found after all. '101' Reykjavik', directed by Baltasar Kormakur, is set in Reykjavik, Iceland. The location sets the mood for the entire film, and can be seen as a representation of Hlynur. Hlynur is somewhat of an "anti-hero" - an immature, childish and socially isolated man who does not want more out of life than he currently enjoys. He spends his days half-heartedly searching for employment, without any real conviction behind his actions. He is blissfully unaware of any greater pleasure that can be found in life. How quickly life can change. A night of passion, an unexpected love affair and an unusual family dynamic all emerge, shocking Hlynur out of his lull and into a world full of confusion and complications.Kormakur's characterization of Hlynur is the driving force behind the film's success. Hlynur isn't an active participant in life - life mostly just happens to him. His life borders on the brink of tragedy, meaningless and hilarity. It's an uncomfortable balance that leaves the audience desperately entertained. Voice overs are utilized to convey the isolation of Hlynur and how desperate his struggle is to connect to the world his lives in. The coming of age of Hylnur is a huge theme throughout the film. Hlynur begins rid himself of his past life, and a chance to turn away from the dark and gloomy tones that had pervaded his life. The stunning Icelandic landscape around him suggests that there is in fact beauty and hope to be found in the world. Kormakur directs the film brilliantly. The setting of Reykjavik is used as a metaphor for for Hylnur. It is snowy, desolate and unwelcoming - a perfect representation of Hylnur and his love life. The establishing shots throughout the film of the magnificent landscapes of Iceland and it's bustling nightlife do a marvelous job of making the audience feel like they are actually at the location of the story. Dry, unexpected humor is strewn throughout the film in a masterful way. This is displayed perfectly in an interaction between Lola, a local Spanish flamenco instructor, and Hlynur Lola: "So, what do you do?" Hlynur: "Nothing. Lola: "What kind of nothing?" Hlynur: "The nothing kind of nothing."Kormakur uses humor to engage the audience, while at the same time revealing the depths of Hlynur's meaningless and loneliness extend to. I particularly enjoyed the performance of the actor who portrayed Hlynur - Hilmir Snaer Gudnason. Through him, we can get a sense of Hlymur's emptiness and longing for meaning throughout the film. I found myself feeling sympathetic towards him, despite many of his unendearing character traits. Gudnason, and all the other actors in the film, deliver their dialogue in a believable and engaging way, pushing the film along with their wonderful performances.'101 Reykjavik' is a wonderful reflection of the changes occurring in Iceland, in particular the progressive social values that the film depicts. I enjoyed the film thoroughly. I felt as though the plot progressed a little slowly at times, but the performances of the lead actors drove the film through these dull periods. Despite the fact that the plot is completely bizarre, I found myself relating to the plight of Hlynur and hoping that he could overcome the trap in which he had found himself. UItimately, the film conveys a timely message of hope. I would definitely recommend this film. If you are able to overcome the complete absurdity of the storyline, you will find yourself engaged with the characters, while at the same time enjoying the breathtaking scenery that is on offer throughout the film. Kormakur proves himself to be a fantastic director, and the dialogue between the characters is dry, witty and unpredictable. '101 Reykjavik" is constantly entertaining and well worth watching.

downing-308-524889 My first impression of 101 Reykjavík was intrigued because it shows how a person with no ambition in life can live off of the well-care system. It also displays a bad connotation of how the well-care system can work for people who actually don't need the extra assistance in life. Showing the laziness from certain people in society and how they take advantage of the system. At the end of 101 Reykjavík, Hylnur the main character, in the end finally grows-up from his childish behavior and takes responsibility: his first step finally getting a job and contributing to society. Hylnur, the main character, approaches the age of 30 while still living with his mother. Hylnur contributes nothing to society. Sleeping from the late hours in the morning, watching porn from the hours of noon to late evening, where later he goes to parties. He thinks nothing of life: not being anyone or anything. He half-heartedly searches for a job, while thinking that he is dead inside.One day, Lola a Spanish flamenco instructor arrives and spends the Christmas with Hylnur and his mother. Lola soon evolves into the center of the household energetic lively-hood, when after a night of heavy drinking Lola and Hylnur sleep together. The fling remains a secret between them. Later when the mother comes back from visiting family members, his mother Berglind, tells Hylnur that she is a lesbian and has fallen in love with Lola. Hylnur becomes conflicted: wanting to support his mother, but also jealous of the relationship between them. What really pushed him to the brink between him and his mother was when she and Lola decided to have a child together. He becomes so angry that he moves out, after almost committing suicide, Hylnur comes to terms with himself and slowly sees life differently. The infant arrives and suddenly the scene switches to all of them living under the same roof again. The fact that Lola's child might be also Hylnur's stays a secret. In the last scene, Hylnur and Lola are looking at the child while the child calls Hylnur Papa. A main theme in 101 Reykjavík is missing identity in society. Hlynur doesn't participate in society only by partying, drinking, and having sex. Even through his behavior one can see that he doesn't take anything seriously- not even death. He doesn't have an identity in society. When Lola asks what he is doing, he responds with "Nothing." She pushes further asking, "What kind of nothing?" he replies by saying: " A nothing kind of nothing." This conversation shows the lack of interest that Hlynur has in society or being apart of it. I found the movie interesting, definitely different from the standard Hollywood movies. The film is named after the postal-code for the "old city" of Reykjavík where lots of nightclubs are located. Aside from all the sex scenes, the movie gives a feeling of nonchalant aspect. Even during the parties he doesn't care. As the camera moves forward through the crowd, it becomes silent. This resembles Hylnur's everyday life. Just moving along through life, not caring about his surroundings. I would recommend this movie to mature and adult viewers. Some viewers might not appreciate the constant sex scenes. It can be a bit much. Overall though, I think this movie portrays the European well-care system as well as the missing identity. I hope that the viewers look past the sex scenes and realize the potential of this film.

tothemax311 '101 Reykjavik', directed by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur in 2000, and based off the novel by the same name by Hallgrímur Helgason offers a melodramatic look into the changing cultural landscape of Iceland as they enter the modern world through urbanization. 101 Reykjavik also depicts an oddly comedic coming-to-age story that turns the main character's mundane lifestyle upside down into a quirky wake-up call to enter the real world.'101 Reykjavik' is the story of an almost 30 year-old man by the name of Hlynur. Hlynur has no job, and doesn't really care to find one, while he enjoys downloading porn in the daytime and going out to the bar in Reykjavik and getting smashed- usually hooking up with a girl almost every night. On top of all this, he lives with his mother. However, one day, along comes his mother's friend Lola, a Spanish flamenco instructor. Quickly, Lola adds a bit of foreign color and excitement to the movies landscape and to Hlynur's dull lifestyle. Lola, we find out, is a lesbian who is in love with Hlynur's mother, Berglind, who also shares this love in return. One night, while Berglind is away visiting her relatives, Hlynur takes Lola out for a night on the town and, unsurprisingly, gets smashed and has sex with Lola. Hlynur becomes torn by this hookup for he is jealous of his mothers and Lola's relationship. Yet, out of respectful for his mother, he wants to accept her lesbian relationship with Lola. The film comes to a climax when we find out that not only may the girl that he has been hooking up with may be pregnant, but also that he has impregnated Lola. Hlynur is pushed to the edge. We learn that the girl isn't pregnant with his child, but that doesn't calm Hlynur who knows that the child Lola is carrying is still his. The movie begins to come to a close with Hlynur beginning to realize that he needs to change his lifestyle and possibly enter the "real-world" that he had dreaded to be'come apart of.As my first Icelandic film '101 Reykjavik' was surprisingly pleasing and oddly comedic. By the end of the movie I was both engaged with analyzing the character of Hlynur while noticing symbolism to common universal themes such as coming-to-age, but also noticing themes that have becoming common for Icelandic film.The coming-to-age theme is overwhelming present throughout the film. As a man who still lives and relies on his mother, and on the government for that matter on unemployment checks, he sees no reason to work in life since he can easily live a happy life with what he gets and has to look out for no one. With the progressing pregnancy of Lola Hlynur begins to realize the child is on the way and he, out of respect for his mother, but also realizing that he has to live with his mother and Lola, begins to realize he will have to care for his son/brother. With the arrival of the child Hlynur realizes his new life as a caregiver and comes out of his stubborn way of life. With an arguably religious scene where he is lying on a mountain covered in snow that starts to wash off with rain, Hlynur is cleansed of his past life- both his lazy lifestyle, and of his jealously over his mother and Lola. This scene is appropriately juxtaposed with the baptism of the child and both scenes are a complete turn away from the dark and gloomy tone of the whole film, offering for the first time a look at the true beauty of the natural landscape of Iceland.Seeing this juxtaposition with the rural landscape of Iceland for the first time presents us with the typically Icelandic theme of the rural vs. urban landscape that is representative of Iceland moving from a small and relatively unknown country into the modern-day landscape. The sense of disconnect felt by Hlynur between real-life and that of the entertaining, and of the depicted almost surreal lifestyle of the city, at least for me, could be representative of the whole nations struggle for finding its place in the new world, if not, at least a balance between the two. Hlynur's age of 30 also reminds me of Generation X- a transition generation between the old and the new- this could also be another symbolic element of the film as it shows that the young adults in Iceland are also at a disconnect with feelings of connecting their childhood lives from the 'rural' Iceland, with that of their adulthood lives in the 'urban' Iceland.If I were to offer any criticism of the film it would be that I felt the film stopped short of really offering an in-depth look at the characters in the film. While the characters were presented well I felt that it would have been interesting to go further in analyzing the nightlife lived out by Hlynur to further explore the generational disconnect. However, the awkward pause that is presented by looking at the in-depth nature of this could also be a cleaver way of expressing the awkward nature of Icelandic people themselves, and of their shy, reserved, and awkward lifestyle that is holding back any true expression.Overall, I loved the film, and would recommend it to anyone with in interest in looking at the lifestyles and personality of the Nordic people. This, coupled with an enjoyment of an old sense of disconnected humor, paints a beautiful melodramatic look into the changing cultural landscape of Iceland, while offering a fun and quirky coming-to-age story.

Gunnar_Runar_Ingibjargarson Sexy Spaniard Victoria Abril heats up the wintry city of Reykjavík in 101 Reykjavík. Icelandic slacker Hlynur (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) lives on welfare with his mother, leading a depressed and aimless existence. His mother invites her flamenco teacher, Lola (Abril), to live with them; while his mother is away for New Year's Eve, Hlynur and Lola have a drunken fling. But upon her return, Hlynur's mother tells him that she and Lola are lesbian lovers--and it soon comes out that she and Lola are going to have a baby together. 101 Reykjavík seems to be the contemporary Icelandic version of American movies of the 1970s like Five Easy Pieces, in which anti heroic characters struggle to make sense of a world that doesn't seem to have any place for them. The movie is a bit unfocused, but its urban malaise feels genuine, if not particularly new. Abril is delightful, as always.