Cold Light

Colour, 35 mm
Iceland, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, 2003, 93 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Forty-something Grímur is a withdrawn man who has voluntarily closed himself within the four walls of his apartment; only rarely does he make an acquaintance. He has obvious artistic talent, however, and painting is not only a pleasant pastime but has therapeutic value as well. He is haunted by traumatic memories, and in his drawings he returns to a childhood spent in a picturesque coastal town in Iceland. His father went daily out to sea in a fishing boat, his mother lovingly took care of the entire family, and his younger sister Gottina was his best friend. The talented Grímur captured the surrounding world with pencil and paper, and his pictures seemed to anticipate events that soon came to pass. Tragic events. Due to his experiences as a child, the adult Grímur doesn´t know what to do with his life. He must go back in time in order to finally resolve the painful episodes of his childhood.

About the director

Hilmar Oddsson (b. 1957, Reykjavik) graduated in direction from Munich´s Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in 1985; while there he shot the fascinating short film In the Shadow of Scartaris about the mysterious Snaefellsjokull glacier, the starting point of Jules Verne´s Journey to the Centre of the Earth. After returning home, Oddsson made his first feature, the psychological thriller The Beast (1986), for which he also wrote the script and music. ´I see the film Cold Light as the greatest challenge of my career as a film director,´ the director said. ´The subject, life in the aftermath of a catastrophy, is a sensitive one and must be handled with respect.´