Devil's Island (1996)

Original title

Djöflaeyjan

Directed by

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Genre

drama film

Country

Iceland

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

15+

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 12 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The film follows poor families living in old US military barracks in Iceland after World War Two. It shows their struggles with poverty, superstition, and family conflicts.

darkly comicbleakgrittyquirkyearthyoffbeatwryemotional

What happens

Devil's Island (Icelandic: Djöflaeyjan) is a 1996 Icelandic film directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. It is a dark comedy filmed in the Grótta area of South west Iceland. The story depicts a group of otherwise homeless families living in barracks abandoned by the US Air Force after the Second World War. The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was the second highest-grossing film in Iceland, behind Titanic. The film's themes include an ambivalence towards America and Americans, poverty and the accompanying social stigma, superstition and the spirit world, and a destructive family dynamic. The sound-track combines American pop (some of it performed in Icelandic) and a score by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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