Official Selection Competition - review - PARIS OF THE NORTH (París norðursins) by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
Family ties and family distances as explores in the latest work by Sigurdsson in his latest work Paris of the North, presented at the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The story takes place in a desolate and cold village of Iceland. It revolves around a thirty something man whose life has come to a worrying standstill. A recovering alcoholic unable to get over an ex-girlfriend who has fled to Portugal, he spends his time learning Portuguese in a desperate hope to reach out for her and start over with her again, playing football with a ten-year-old kid, but doing little else to turn his life around.
Things get trickier when his almost estranged father decides to stay for a lengthy visit. The two, instead of bonding in the traditional cinematic sense of the term, stubbornly clash. For instance, tension is added when his free bird father flirts with the only woman who may help his son get over his ex. This theme of family is central to the film, as well as the theme of masculinity and the honest exposure of masculine vulnerabilities.
Yet, despite the emotional themes carried through the film, some of which are brutally honest in their exposure – the old theatrical cliché of the call to the ex-girlfriend only to hear the new boyfriend pick up the phone works a charm within the film’s context – Paris of the North is actually quite a funny and entertaining film. Not least of all because it is able to pace itself and never quite hide but rather more than willing to shamelessly reveal the underlying drama.
Conveyed by the coldness of the environment, hilarious and balanced sequences such as AA meetings and a likeable central performance Björn Thors as the hopeless man on the verge of depression, humanity and truth unravel throughout Sigurdsson work in a familiar and universal way. In fact, while there is nothing terribly original about the structure of the film or even its individual sequences, the truthful approach is used in an amazingly effective and credible way. On top of that, a fresh style and overall Northern European appeal also contribute to making Paris of the North modern and exciting.