''Devil's Island'' () is a 1996 Icelandic film directed by
Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. It is a dark comedy filmed in the
Grótta area of South west
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. 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.
[Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] 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.
]
Cast
* Baltasar Kormákur as Baddi
* Gísli Halldórsson as Thomas
* Sigurveig Jónsdóttir as Karolina
* Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir as Dolly
* Guðmundur Ólafsson as Grettir
* Sveinn Geirsson as Danni
Reception
The film opened at number one at the Icelandic box office and went on to be the highest-grossing Icelandic film of all time and the second highest-grossing film in Iceland behind ''Titanic'' with a gross of 55 million Icelandic króna ($770,000) from 75,000 admissions.
See also
* List of submissions to the 69th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Icelandic submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
*
'Djöflaeyjan rís': article in ''Morgunblaðinu'' 1996
'Braggadagar': article in ''Morgunblaðinu'' 1996
1996 films
1996 comedy films
Films directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
Films scored by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Icelandic comedy films
Films produced by Peter Aalbæk Jensen
{{Iceland-film-stub