Iceland
Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer, Hampstead Theatre review - it's game over for this chess playFriday, 06 December 2019
We’ve had Chess the musical; now, here’s Chess the play. Tom Morton-Smith, who has experience wrestling recent history into dramatic form with the acclaimed Oppenheimer, turns his attention to the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavík, in which... Read more... |
Björk, SSE Hydro, Glasgow review- Icelandic experimentalist reimagines live performanceWednesday, 27 November 2019
Grimes, the Canadian art pop performer, made headlines last week when she predicted the end of musical performance as we know it on a podcast interview with theoretical physicist Sean Carroll. Live music, she said, would be “obsolete soon”, while... Read more... |
Translations, National Theatre review - stunning revival of poignant tragicomedyTuesday, 22 October 2019
At a point in history where – yet again – a few misplaced words from English politicians could wreak havoc with Irish lives, this is a welcome revival of Ian Rickson’s stunning production which first played here to rapturous reviews last year. Brian... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Dip - Ḣ-Camp Meets Lo-FiSunday, 13 October 2019
The temptation with the 20th anniversary reissue of Ḣ-Camp Meets Lo-Fi (Explosion Picture Score) is to look for traces of what came earlier and pointers towards what would come in Iceland’s music. The album was credited to Dip, a collaboration... Read more... |
The Planets, Series Finale, BBC Two review - ice cold on NeptuneWednesday, 26 June 2019
As an aid to meditation, Professor Brian Cox’s latest series The Planets (BBC Two) could hardly be faulted. A majestic tour of the Solar System awash with computerised imagery, an eerie soundtrack and a travel budget the president of the United... Read more... |
San Francisco Ballet, Liang/Marston/Pita, Sadler's Wells - elemental, ethereal and kitschy, tooTuesday, 04 June 2019
Sun, snow, and some unadorned silliness danced to the music of Björk: no one can accuse San Francisco of casting an insufficiently wide tonal (or climatic) net in this second of four programmes on view from San Francisco Ballet as part of their... Read more... |
Arctic review - The Martian on iceWednesday, 08 May 2019
This is the first feature film by Brazil-born director Joe Penna (previously best known for his hit YouTube channel MysteryGuitarMan), but you’d never have guessed. Clocking in at a crisp and chilly 98 minutes, Arctic is an immaculately controlled... Read more... |
10 Questions for Director Benedikt ErlingssonSunday, 05 May 2019
Benedikt Erlingsson (b.1969) was already an established theatre director and actor in Iceland when he directed his debut film, Of Horses And Men, an uncategorisable blend of humour, romance and horror, set away from Reykjavik amongst stubbornly... Read more... |
Woman at War review – timely comedy-drama about an eco-warrior with a differenceSaturday, 04 May 2019
What is it about Nordic women and the environment? Hot on the heels of the London visit by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg – the most inspiring climate change campaigner since Al Gore – comes this timely, singular, enormously enjoyable comedy-... Read more... |
CD: Vök - In the DarkWednesday, 27 February 2019
Although In the Dark comprises 11 tracks of outward-facing contemporary North European electronica-infused, dance-edged pop along the lines of “Faded”, the 2015 international hit helmed by Norwegian DJ/producer Alan Walker, an undercurrent implies a... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: Under the TreeTuesday, 15 January 2019
If you’ve ever had an argument with a neighbour, watch Under the Tree and take notes. This mesmerising story of a dispute over a tree blocking the sun in a next-door garden is based, says Icelandic director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, on an actual... Read more... |
Heartstone review - huge visuals, close-up performancesSaturday, 18 November 2017
Icelandic writer-director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson has made an impressive feature debut with this story of crossing the threshold from childhood to young adult experience. Heartstone acutely and empathetically catches the path from innocence to... Read more... |
