Animated Discussions: Bath House by Niki Lindroth von Bahr

For fans of Nordic Noir ... or "slow film" as in Roy Andersson  ... Bahr's award-winning "Bath House" is a meticulous stop motion film set in a Swedish public swimming bath.
If you think you've had a bad day at work take pity on this shift manager. I think it's funny in a bleak way but then I love the aforementioned Andersson and I adored the Icelandic comedy series set in an all-night garage -The Night Shift.

The film is in Swedish with English subtitles. If you don't get the subtitles, click on the CC button at bottom right on video bar.

Bath House from Niki Lindroth von Bahr on Vimeo.

Prinspolo

Did find this piece of Icelandic music-making via Radio 4's Saturday edition of Excess Baggage . (Edit: Ha! just heard the news that  BBC Radio 4 is axing this programme. I can always trust they will do this to me.)
The band is Prinspolo. Find out more at their site Prinspolo.com .

Travels With My Film-Life: Iceland: Cold Fever

As I watch Mrs Doonuthin devourin her latest thriller (see previous post) then upendin herself over her box of cds trying to find the Bjork one....

I am reminded of an Icelandic film I have great affection for. It's Fridrik Thor Fridricksson's "Cold Fever" - a 1995 road movie set in Iceland following a young Japanese businessman who reluctantly travels to Iceland in order to perform a ritual ceremony for his parents who had died in an avalanche some years earlier. (Take the time to follow this Cold Fever link and watch the trailer on the International Movie Database...)

I just adore that film. Great photography. And as usual with me... off the wall characters. Add the naturally off the wall landscape of Iceland and it's just my cup of tea. I particularly loved the scene where the Japanese guy is desperate to get back to Reykjavik, hires a taxi and ... in the middle of nowhere there is an isolated building. The taxi driver asks him if he could just wait a moment and hops out of the taxi and into the building... After quite some time the Japanese guy gives up and staggers up to the building... inside he sees a full-scale nativity play going on with the taxi driver in pride of place...... I just love it.

If you get a chance, try to catch the film. And be prepared - there are an awful lot of deep-fried sheep's heads. And geysers. And elves. And black sand..........

The Wonders of Matronymics

I's looking over Mrs Doonuthin's shoulder whilst she's reading her copy of Michael Ridpath's latest Icelandic set thriller "66 Degrees North". She's enjoyin it too. I can tell. She's slowin her crunchin on tortilla chips and the glass of red by her side is still practically full.

Anyways I am most impressed by the system of family names in Iceland.  Sons take Father's first name +..."son" and daughters take Father or perhaps Mother's name + ..dottir.

I do rather fancy struttin around as Greydoll Cecilsdottir or Greydoll Sybilsdottir.

Whatever. Now my dear little parthenogenetic daughters have a proper family name courtesy of Icelandic custom - Aurelia Greydollsdottir, Beryl Greydollsdottir ..........

I am happy.

The Old Man's Night Shift

So the final two episodes of "The Night Shift" were shown on BBC Four last night. (As talked about in previous post.)

Sorry if any of you sample it and are shocked to the core by subject matter and language... But when Georg Bjarnfreðarson, the shift manager, decides to educate his young son about "the facts of life"... complete with naming of parts and graffiti-drawings on the white board...
The guy is a control freak pedant who summons his only two co-workers on the walkie talkie - addressing each as "Trainee Personnel " and "Forecourt Personnel" respectively.

Munching breakfast, I ask The Old Man about his times on the evening shift of a petrol station way-back-when. Was it like The Night-Shift?

"Naaa.... well... We did have to ban the cars from a Nationally Known Driving School..."
"Uh?"
"They knocked too many pumps over."
"Uh?"
"And I only got to use the Tannoy once..."
"Mmm?"
"The local Liberal candidate drove by in his van with his election speaker going... "
"Yeah?"
"... I Tannoyed back: You lying git, I know you're a Conservative!"
"Mmm?"
"But eventually, I got the sack."
"Uh?"
"I went to the pictures the evening the clocks changed and didn't realise. So I turned up to work two hours late instead of the usual one...."
"Oh. Nothing like "The Night Shift" then...."

Visiting Iceland's "The Night Shift"

Been watchin' the Icelandic comedy series "The Night Shift" (link toYouTube trailer) on BBC Four.

Though some's don't think it funny, needless to say The Doll be laughin out loud whilst watchin'. And The Old Man's quite keen too.

Because this is about a motley crew working the night-shift of a petrol station somewhere in Iceland, some leap to group it with Britain's "The Office". But The Doll sits through "The Office" with a straight face thinking... "this be too much like real life to be funny and that bossman be a smarmy drip....."

Watching "The Night Shift" causes her to curl up on the sofa and crow out loud with laughter as the shift's control-freak manager gets hisself into ever hotter water, one worker plummets into depression, and the third fibs his way towards the fantasy of fame and fortune he so believes to be his. The Doll loves it. And it's really quite empathic in a way that the "The Office" isn't.

But sadly the last two episodes are in sight: Monday 30 May at 22.30 and 22.55 (2011) on BBC Four.

The Doll really do hope BBC Four gets hold of the sequel "Day Shift".