Ingvar E. Sigurdsson Movies

An Icelandic crime thriller with the gloss stripped away, director Oskar Jonasson's Reykjavik-Rotterdam hones in on a down-and-outer at the very end of his rope. For Kristofer (Baltasar Kormakur) life has been little more than a never ending series of failures and disappointments. Among other things, he made the colossal mistake of smuggling alcohol during his tenure as a shipworker - a little stunt that promptly landed him behind bars. Now, following release, he struggles to pull his life together while working as a security guard and continually attempts to support his family. Then the opportunity arises for Kristofer to do one final tour on a freighter running from Reykjavik, Iceland, to Rotterdam, Holland. Kristofer initially embraces the opportunity to work with his old friends once again - little foreseeing the malestorm of crime into which this move will plunge him. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In 1974, a young Icelandic girl met a grim fate at the hands of a murderer -- and the crime was never solved. So begins celebrated director Baltasar Kormákur's procedural thriller Jar City (or Mýrin), adapted from Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indridason's 2000 best-seller, Tainted Blood. In the present day, the jaded and exhausted detective Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) begins to investigate a link between that notorious unsolved crime and the homicide of a local thug, Holberg (Thorsteinn Gunnarsson). Erlendur also struggles in his private life with an overwhelming problem: the drug addiction of his own pregnant daughter, Eva Lind (Agusta Eva Erlendsdottir). Meanwhile, Örn (Atli Rafn Sigurdarson), an employee at a DNA-mapping lab, reels from the death of his own daughter, who suffered from a brain tumor. In time, the two men's lives will intersect in a myriad of ways that neither can even begin to foresee -- and the motivation for Holberg's original crime will become resoundingly clear. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

One of the oldest epic poems in the English language gets a robust visual interpretation in this historical epic shot on location in Iceland. Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård) is a Danish king who murders a troll that has been terrorizing his countryside. But Hrothgar spares the life of the troll's strange young son, who with the passage of years grows to become Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson), a fearsome warrior intent upon avenging his father's death. As Grendel begins his slaughter of the king's closest confidants, Hrothgar realizes his life is in danger, and he calls upon the brave and fearless Beowulf (Gerard Butler) to track down and kill Grendel. As Beowulf and his band of warriors search for the vicious and elusive Grendel, he crosses paths with Selma (Sarah Polley), a beautiful and sensuous witch whose alliances are divided between Beowulf and his archenemy. Produced by Canadian, British, and Icelandic concerns, Beowulf & Grendel was a major box-office success in Canada before crossing south to American theaters in the summer of 2006. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A real-life historical incident becomes the basis for this military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow that's reminiscent of such submarine dramas as Das Boot (1981), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), and U-571 (2000). Harrison Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a Russian naval officer who's being given command of the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, K-19, at the height of the Cold War in 1961. The vessel's previous commander, Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) has been demoted to executive officer following a botched test and his outspoken assertions that the flagship is not yet ready for deployment, but he curbs his resentment and resolves to serve his new superior well. Polenin's concerns are well founded: parts are not yet installed, equipment is missing, and the ship's doctor is killed in an auto mishap. Political pressure forces Vostrikov to sail his crew into the North Atlantic anyway, for a missile fire test that serves as a warning to the U.S. that its enemy is now its technological equal. The test is a success, but a disastrous leak in the K-19's reactor cooling system soon threatens to create enough heat to detonate the craft's nuclear payload -- which would certainly be mistaken for the first salvo in a worldwide atomic exchange and spark the beginning of World War III. With no other option, Vostrikov orders his men to repair the damage in ten-minute shifts, irradiating them hopelessly. The conflict between the seemingly bureaucratic Communist Vostrikov and the more humane Polenin escalates, until a surprising twist reveals where both officers' loyalties truly lie. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

This tale is set in Iceland immediately after WW II when the American forces abandoned the island, leaving behind a considerable number of empty bunkers which were immediately appropriated by hundreds of poverty-stricken Icelanders. The film follows the daily exploits of the Tomasson family, who live in the old army barracks at what was once Camp Thule. Gogo is the daughter of Karolina -- who had a fling 40 years before, got pregnant and was later married to the kindly Tommi Tomasson who took pity on her. Karolina repaid his kindness with four decades of marital misery. Gogo, who raised three children during her first marriage, marries an American G.I. named Charlie Brown and leaves her children and family to start a new life. Most of the subsequent tale centers on Gogo's sons Baddi and Danni. Baddi goes to the U.S. with his mother, while quiet and younger Danni remains in Iceland. Baddi soon returns and proves to be a class-A American-style boor. He creates trouble for Danni, who sadly observes his brother's changes, but says nothing. Baddi makes matters worse when he seduces Hveragerdur, the girl next door whom Danni has secretly loved for ages. Baddi then marries the girl, but it is an unhappy union. After overcoming his grief, Danni becomes a pilot. The story takes a darker turn after Karolina has a disturbing premonition. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi