Egil Olafsson Movies

Gudny Halldorsdottir directs this slow, nuanced family drama about gnawing jealousy and destructive sibling rivalry. Rannveig (Ragnhildur Gisladottir) and Thurid (Tinna Gunnlaugsdottir) are grown daughters of a wealthy deacon in a remote corner of western Iceland. Thurid endures an unhappy marriage with two children while footloose and fancy-free Rannveig is sent to study in Copenhagen by her parents. While staying with family friends in that great teaming Danish metropolis, Rannveig is seduced by the couple's son Bjorn (Bjorn Floberg). Later it is revealed that Thurid bedded this same Bjorn years previously, and she still holds a torch for him. Upon her return to the windswept wilds of her native land, Rannveig reveals that she is pregnant. Seething with the bilious jealousy, Thurid quietly masterminds a scheme that will save the family's honor. The family announces that Rannveig is engaged to a lovely man in Denmark and schedules a wedding, yet when the alleged groom does not appear on the nuptial date, they tearfully announce that he died. Rannveig eventually gives birth to her love child. Thurid eventually succumbs to her white-hot envy and sells Rannveig's baby to the Danes. Later, their sibling relationship strained some by that kidnapping incident, Thurid shacks up with Bjorn while Rannveig has an illicit affair with a carpenter. This film was based on a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness, the father of the director. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Set in early 19th-century Iceland, this moving drama pays tribute to the courage of a young woman who fought back against the sexual repression and misogyny of the times and paid for that fight with her life in a public execution, the last ever held in the country. The story begins as Agnes works as a servant for Richter, a local magistrate and representative of the Danish (the country that first colonized Iceland) government. Because Agnes bore a daughter out of wedlock (scuttlebutt said the father was the town priest) Richter considers her a tramp and therefore available. She is not a trollop though and successfully fends off his attempts to rape her. Her physical and emotional strength causes Richter to hate Agnes. Agnes' real troubles begin when she falls in love with Natan, a local herbalist who is called to help Richter's wife through a difficult birth. Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that the seductive Natan is secretly a thief who only seduces her to enable his brother and another successfully rob the Richter residence. After the theft, Agnes is sold to Natan. His farm is located in an isolated place and for a time, she is happy to be with him. Unfortunately, the herbs Natan ingests make him violent and during one struggle he dies. Agnes is accused of the death and executed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this epic historical drama, set in the 10th century, a young Christian man is sent by his Scandinavian superiors to Iceland to assist in the conversion of that island to Christianity. Young Askur is deeply in love with Embla, but he must leave for the remote realm of Iceland on his mission before he can come back and make her his wife. There is much bad blood between those who follow the old ways and those who follow the new, and a strong arm on the side of the Christians is warmly welcomed. This production drew on talent and funding from all over Scandinavia and by local standards was a phenomenally expensive picture, costing around $7 million dollars to make; it did not repay these costs during its Scandinavian release. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Magnus (Egill Olafsson) is a slightly ditzy lawyer whose life is fraying at the edges. Things get into a much clearer perspective when he receives a medical diagnosis that says he will die pretty soon from cancer. Though he briefly contemplates suicide, he puts the notion aside. Now, he can take in stride things which might have bothered him before, such as the clerical mistake he made which resulted in his father losing his property, or his wife's pushy lover, or the bad company his daughter is keeping. He can even tolerate his rowdy, bootlegging father better and also his incompetent, sponging brother-in-law. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this energetic, Sergio Leone-style, mythological story, a young Irishman sets out to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of the Vikings. When Gest (Jacob Thor Einarsson) was just a little boy in Ireland, his pacifist parents were brutally murdered and his sister kidnapped by Viking raiders, and now that he has come of age, he travels to Iceland and traces the helmeted rogues to their encampment. After he arrives, he cunningly kills off several higher-ranking warriors which causes the two brothers who lead the band to quarrel among themselves, at first believing that these deaths were due to the anger of their gods. Their internal dissention gives Gest needed opportunities to kill isolated men one by one but also leaves his sister with a dilemma because she has married the surviving leader and her loyalties are torn. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This children's film concentrates on the hi-jinks and family interactions of twin boys growing up and learning about life through their own experiences and through those around them (their father is a teacher, their mother is a nurse, their sister is a full-time teenager, their grandfather still likes his moments with the women, and their grandmothers can find the boys trying at times). In this growing-up process, the twins and their family help a mentally handicapped girl who has been the target of crude treatment by other children, and the grandparents (except for some practical jokes by the boys) are treated with respect and concern. In a series of vignettes, the family's life is revealed on many levels, with humor and insight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi