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Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
When the Light Breaks review — a simple, slow but beautiful Icelandic drama
This dreamy, wispy Icelandic grief drama might have been called The Other Woman had that title not already been taken by a cheesy Cameron Diaz rom-com. I'm also fond of The Ciggy Break, as so much of the film's emotional revelations occurs during the central character Una's pivotal smoking interludes — in front of corrugated iron doors, pebble-dashed walls and glass patio screens. Una (Elin Hall) is the so-called other woman, an art student who's having a secret affair with hipster musician Diddi (Baldur Einarsson) and who, as the film begins, is thrilled to discover that Diddi is just hours away from breaking up with his long-term girlfriend Klara (Katla Njalsdottir). Unfortunately, a fatal car accident, rendered in explosive detail (cue action movie fireball),
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
When the Light Breaks review: Emotionally astute drama is a bonsai miniature of overwhelming grief
When the Light Breaks Director : Rúnar Rúnarsson Cert : 15A Genre : Drama Starring : Elín Hall, Mikael Kaaber, Katla Njálsdóttir, Ágúst Wigum, Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsson, Baldur Einarsson Running Time : 1 hr 21 mins Una (Elín Hall) and Diddi (Baldur Einarsson) are cool kids and lovers attending art school in Reykjavík, Iceland. He's tall and good-looking; she's an elfin variation on Annie Lennox's androgynous 1980s years. They have dreams. He wants to visit Japan; the well-travelled Una will settle for the Faroe Islands. As day dawns he promises to break up with his long-distance girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir). Except he never gets there. En route he falls victim to a dramatic and fatal tunnel explosion. Icelandic flags are later flown at half-mast, an image that gives the same sorrowful quality that WH Auden's Funeral Blues once brought to Four Weddings and a Funeral. Rúnar Rúnarsson condenses the funeral experience into a single day in this emotionally astute drama, a much-admired contender at Cannes in 2024. Composed of small gestures and unspoken truths, it's a bonsai miniature of the vastness of overwhelming grief. READ MORE A numb, grieving Una watches as various friends and comrades console Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir). They hug the 'official' girlfriend and characterise Diddi and Klara as the perfect couple. More poignantly, the sincere, plain-speaking Klara embraces Una as a sister. Diddi's bandmate and roommate, Gunni (Mikael Kaaber), is aware of Una's predicament but cautions Una not to reveal her clandestine romance. Instead the two bereaved women form an uneasy bond of pain, not exactly shared, but similarly lonely. Hall is a revelation, her blank features signalling multitudes as she tries to get through the day. Her youthful companions rage against suburban motorists, drink shots and dance their way through an unanticipated mourning period. Sophia Olsson's cinematography finds poetry whether she's shooting seedy-looking bars or the majestic Hallgrímskirkja church. The late Jóhann Jóhannsson's mournful score complements the film's elegant restraint. In cinemas from Friday, May 23rd
