All those who had read Winston Churchill's literary masterpiece about World War 2 could have remembered an interesting detail – British government in its official papers had to put letter "C" behind "Iceland" in order to prevent pilots and captains from going to Ireland. These days such measures are unnecessary - Iceland is well- known not only for its volcanoes and important strategic position, but also for its pop musicians and talented soccer players. Icelanders also can pride themselves with plucky little film industry, which is able, at least at certain occasions, to withstand the charge of American blockbuster. Remote Control a.k.a. Sódóma Reykjavík, 1992 comedy written and directed by Oskar Jonasson, managed to do that by beating Jurassic Park on domestic market.
The plot of the film partially deals with local legislation which might look somewhat strange to non-Icelanders. Iceland, like many Nordic countries, has introduced strict limits on sale and distribution of liquor, in many ways similar to Prohibition in 1920s USA. However, that measure, apart from annoying Icelandic youth, haven't created many of those nasty side effects experienced by Americans. Young car mechanic Axel (played by Björn Jörundur Friðbjörnsson) seems to have much biggest problem at his hands - TV remote control is missing and his mother (played by Thora Fridriksdottir) can't watch her favourite shows. Axel discovers that the remote control was accidentally taken by his punk sister Maja (played by Margaret Gustavsdottir) so he goes to house of Maja's best friend Unnur (played by Soley Eliasdottir). There he meets Unnur's brother Moli (played by Helgi Bjornsson), who earns his living by smuggling liquor. Axel gets involved in escalating war between Moli and Aggi Flinki (played by Eggert Þorleifsson), night club owner who dreams of becoming Iceland's first crime lord.
For a film that deals with specifically Icelandic situations and way of life, Remote Control is surprisingly universal comedy. Humour is effective, although the dialogues suffer from poor English dubbing. Some scenes at the end leave much to be desired, but Remote Control leaves generally good impression. Opportunity to listen to Bjork singing in her native tongue isn't the only reason why non-Icelandic viewers should watch this film.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on December 18th 2003)
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