Film: Noi Albino
Release date: 24th May 2004
Certificate: 15
Running time: 91 mins
Director: Dagur Kari
Starring: Tomas Lemarquis, Throstur Leo Gunnarsson, Elin Hansdottir, Anna Friðriksdóttir, Hjalti Rögnvaldsson
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Iceland/Germany/UK/Denmark
In a place where many of us would probably rather not be, due to it being so relentlessly cold - and not to mention tedious - some people are trying to start their lives. In an Icelandic village, the eponymous Noi is just one of these people. Growing up, as Dagur Kári’s film attests, has rarely been so difficult.
Despite his appearance, Noi is like so many young people of his age. Disaffected and disinterested with what is around him, especially school, the young man meanders through life, leading a quiet existence in an even quieter, snow-covered community. He lives with his grandmother, and his father is also present in his life, albeit intermittently, partly due to the man’s alcoholism.
Within this setting, though, minor developments occur that disrupt Noi’s mundane equilibrium, creating small openings for the character. The most important of these developments is his burgeoning relationship with a girl named Iris…
As the film unfolds through its early stages, isolation is obvious, for both Noi and the community as a whole. It is an isolation that seems almost impregnable, due to the film’s inference that the climate is practically intolerable to any outsiders - including us, the audience. The chilly presence of the setting on our screens is made so palpable via a masterful combination of cinematography and the use of fragile, spare music. Just as obvious is the film’s inclusion of the familiar theme of youth alienation. It prompts one to search the film for something beyond the obvious. The distance from the main character that the cinematography maintains in these scenes only leaves us to question further.
Slowly the film begins to shed light on who Noi is and what shapes his life. We begin to learn that regardless of how we may have assumed Noi is cynical and self-destructive, given the fact that he steals from a gambling machine and is apathetic to school - an institution that could change his fortunes - this is not quite accurate. The character is portrayed as being caring - cooking meals for his grandmother - and when he receives a camera replica that displays various images in its two lenses from his grandmother on his birthday, he demonstrates a simple, appreciative nature, such is his delight. These characteristics are not evident in, nor compatible with his school experience, though, and he is asked to see a psychiatrist. The opinions of the psychiatrist and Noi’s ease at solving the Rubik’s cube on his desk indicate the teenager’s intelligence.
The film continues to piece together the different fragments that constitute Noi’s life with great tenderness from the director. The use of a wide-shot of the edge of the coast, dominated by a mountain, is particularly effective as a central motif. Also significant are the shots of Noi in his own private den beneath ground-level, a stark illustration of his persistent loneliness. The fact that the director does not choose to linger on these moments for anything longer than a brief period of time is symbolic of the character’s resilience, something that prevents him from lapsing into self-pity.
The real success of Kari’s film is that it manages to represent a rather bleak premise with such charm. A great example of this is the scene where Noi takes Iris out for the first time. As Iris shivers in the mercilessly low temperature, she asks him what his plans are, to which he admits he has none, other than just wanting to be with her. At other points in the film, the sobering tone is pierced by sprinklings of dead-pan comedy which gain some big laughs.
Although futility, in the form of school, the local surroundings and the father is tangible, this all eventually gives way to uncontrollable circumstances that shape the narrative to tragic, upsetting effect. Some viewers may finish watching the film feeling frustrated, as though all of their investment has been unrewarded, and their questions left unanswered. However, the fact that the film has coaxed viewers into investing anything at all, as well as causing them to ask these questions, should not be taken for granted.
In another filmmaker’s hands, this could easily have been a clichéd depiction of teenage aimlessness. But the vision forged through the combination of the script and directorial approach have rendered Noi Albino a unique, charming perspective on a young man and his society, anchored by a terrific central performance by Tómas Lemarquis.
While Noi Albino certainly leaves an impression on its audience, it is not a film that is as thought provoking as one might hope. Nonetheless, this short, atmospheric tale consistently appeals to our sympathies, eliciting smiles and chuckles between the frowns. BN
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