Icelandic Angels Each of us learned about this film, so to speak, came to it in his own way. Someone is a longtime fan of Sigur Ros, someone is interested in Iceland and the original culture of this northern country, and someone stumbled upon the film by chance and decided to watch it to discover both. And not a single one, I firmly believe, who saw it, regretted the time spent! . .
I, in turn, have long been deeply interested in both the Sighurs and Iceland, and therefore watched this musical film with renewed attention and interest. I'm not Icelandic, I wasn't born in Iceland, I've never even been there, but I can still say, hand on heart, that I love this country! I am often annoyed by such statements from people who have nothing to do with the objects of their love (be it a football club, a foreign language or another country). I will try to explain in this case and, in order not to depart from the topic of the review, to describe my vision of Iceland, how it appears before the audience in “Heima” and what it really is.
I have always been fascinated by the way in this vast northern country with extremely scarce natural resources and a small population such a distinctive and self-sufficient culture was born and flourished. How is it that Icelanders, an extremely poor and small nation, have carried their culture through centuries, through eras of total Norwegian and Danish domination? How have the heroic Icelandic sagas and masterpieces of world epic literature been preserved, most of them passed from word of mouth? And how, in the final analysis, did modern great Icelandic writers (H. Laxness, O. J. Sigurdsson), composers (Sigur Ros, Bjork, mum, O. Arnalds) grow up on this soil – and many, many others.? The answer to this question can be seen in many ways in Heim – it is, first of all, an amazing sense of unity and brotherhood inherent in the Icelandic people. As in the old days, one gathered on cold winter evenings to listen to the sagas of the Vikings, and now they gather for concerts Sigur Ros. Their native, national for them was, is and always will be above all else. Why am I writing all this? Simply because from the history and culture of Icelanders, each of us can draw conclusions about our own people.
Here is Sigur Ros - a band exclusively, to the bone Icelandic. It’s not just the lyrics (overwhelmingly) in the native language and not just the clips depicting Icelandic landscapes. I think if I were asked to name another band or composer with a national flair like Sigur Rous, I wouldn’t be able to. And in addition to all this, the deepest soulfulness of their work, accessible to all listeners without exception, is what these Icelanders love so much. After all, even in their genre of “post-rock” (with all the breadth of this concept) Sighurs fit with a great stretch, which does not allow to catch their audience in the narrowness of musical views. For those who identify post-rock with Sigur Rows, this will be unclear, but there really is a sea of more “post-rock” bands. The long-awaited album “Valtari”, let’s face it, if not for vocal inserts, is 95% ambient. And yet Sigur Ros has been like wine for years, only better and better. I didn’t even get two opinions on this.
I sincerely apologise for the somewhat protracted and confused review, if it seems such to anyone - there is too much to say and mention. But in general, in it, as in the film “Heima”, everyone will find something new and informative. And the film itself -- I think, given everything that's been said about it, it's hard to appreciate. It’s just a masterpiece from Icelandic Angels, as I used to come across a metaphor for Sigur Ros. But if it still requires a traditional assessment, then it is without a doubt.
10 out of 10