White Night Wedding

Colour, 35 mm
Iceland, 2008, 94 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Jón’s first wife died tragically, and now the middle-aged teacher is planning to remarry – a former student who is half his age. Various circumstances prevent the wedding from going off without a hitch, and create numerous comic situations that serve to illustrate the many characters who swarm to a secluded island prior to the wedding. The nuptials aside, everything that happens leading up to the ceremony forces self-reflection and serious decision-making. This comedy with tragic accents, inspired by characters from Chekhov’s play Ivanov, also makes use of stock "wedding film” stereotypes. The action is seen from the male leads’ POVs, and the bonds between them help hold the film together. Taunting friends and squabbling partners provoke more laughter than apprehension, but the movie’s black humor clearly indicates that this is no idyll, marking it unmistakably as cinema of the North.

About the director

Baltasar Kormákur (b. 1966, Reykjavik) is an Icelandic theater and movie director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. After a decade of acting and directing for theater, in 2000 he wrote and directed 101 Reykjavik, creating Blueeyes Productions in the wake of its success. In 2001, Variety magazine dubbed him one of the "10 Directors To Watch”. The Sea (Hafiđ, 2002) and A Little Trip to Heaven (2005, starring Forest Whitaker and Julia Stiles) were screened at Karlovy Vary where Kormákur sat on the jury in 2003. In 2007, he won the Crystal Globe for Jar City (Mýrin), Iceland’s biggest box office success ever. Currently, Kormákur is finishing up an American production with the working title Run for Her Life.