A White, White Day

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A White, White Day
A White, White Day.jpg
Film poster
Directed by
Written byHlynur Pálmason
StarringIngvar Eggert Sigurðsson

Hilmir Snær Guðnason
Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir
CinematographyMaria von Hausswolff
Edited byJulius Krebs Damsbo
Music byEdmund Finnis
Release dates
  • 16 May 2019 (2019-05-16) (Cannes)
  • 6 September 2019 (2019-09-06) (Iceland)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryIceland
LanguageIcelandic
Box office$198,998[1]

A White, White Day (Icelandic: Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur) is a 2019 Icelandic drama film directed by .[2] It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.[3] It was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[4]

Plot[]

Police chief Ingimundur, whose wife died in a car accident, reluctantly undergoes grief counselling, works constantly on renovating a farm building for his daughter Elín's family, and sometimes looks after her daughter Salka. Elín gives him some of her mother's effects, and he's shocked to find a video evidently recording an affair she had with a man called Olgeir Olafsson. He stakes out Olgeir's home, joining his football club. Bad weather closes the roads; while having a pixellated online therapy session, he snaps and trashes the room, beating up two colleagues when they protest and locking them in the cells. Insulting Salka to get rid of her, he kidnaps Olgeir and takes him at gunpoint to a grave he's dug, demanding to know the truth about the affair, and what Olgeir thought of her. Olgeir obliges and Ingimundur yells in fury; Olgeir flees. The next day Olgeir confronts and stabs Ingimundur, terrifying Salka. With a bleeding arm, Ingimundur carries her home through another white-out, apologising for being rude. Having finally acknowledged his grief and anger, he has a vision of his wife undressing and smiling at him as he weeps.[2]

Cast[]

Reception[]

Box office[]

A White, White Day grossed approximately $340,000 across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[1]

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A White, White Day plunges viewers into the darkness of grief and jealousy, led by Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson's brilliantly layered performance."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised the film for its "startling aesthetic choices" and "enigmatic opening sequence."[7]

Brian Tallerico, writing for Roger Ebert, gave the film 3 stars whilst positively highlighting leading man Sigurðsson. He also praised the ending with "such a devastating, powerful final shot that it alone erases most criticisms."[8] Variety praised the film's deliberate pacing that is preoccupied less with "ticking-clock storylines" but "slow cinema" often associated with foreign film directors outside the Hollywood bubble. It is described as "a terrifying, soul-rattling character study" which makes Palmasson one of "the most important voices of this emerging generation."[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "A White, White Day". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Vourlias, Christopher (6 July 2019). "Hlynur Palmason's 'A White, White Day' Sells to China, U.K." Variety. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Toronto Adds The Aeronauts, Mosul, Seberg, & More To Festival Slate". Deadline. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  4. ^ Sigríður Einarsdóttir, Gréta (25 September 2019). "A White, White Day Will Be Iceland's Submission to the Oscars". Iceland Review. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  5. ^ "A White, White Day (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  6. ^ "A White, White Day Reviews". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  7. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (1 July 2020). "A White, White Day review – spiralling rage and stunning force" – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. ^ Tallerico, Brian. "A White, White Day movie review (2020)". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. ^ Debruge, Peter (5 April 2020). "'A White, White Day': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

External links[]

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