white night wedding ( icelandic : brúðguminn ) is a 2008 icelandic film directed by baltasar kormákur .

the bittersweet comedy , about the never-ending search for love and happiness , takes place in flatey , breiðafjörður , western iceland .

the film is loosely based on the play ivanov by anton chekhov .

white night wedding

white night wedding <EOT> “white night wedding is a highly entertaining film revolving around the search for happiness . "

white night wedding was iceland’s entry for the oscar nominations 2009 – the foreign language film .

“by delivering white night wedding , baltasar fulfils all the promises that his earlier movies have given . ”

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing white night wedding near you .

" directed by [ baltasar kormákur ] . . . white night wedding is perhaps his most ambitious endeavour to date . "

white night wedding was opened in iceland january 18th 2008 and was first released internationally at the toronto international film festival september 7th 2008 .

pippa walked down the aisle in a beautiful white lace wedding gown by giles deacon .

" i would say that white night wedding is a “feel - good” movie which leaves you pretty satisfied about yourself and life in general . ”

" now this is nice to see . baltasar kormakur‘s fabulous white night wedding has been chosen as iceland’s official entry for the best foreign language film oscar derby for 2008 . "

the film , white night wedding tells , the story of jon , a university teacher who is trying to figure out his life and himself during one bright summer night in the island of flatey , which lies in breidafjordur in west iceland . white night wedding , or brudguminn in icelandic , is a dramedy about the joy of life and search for happiness , although with bittersweet undertones , for there is never light without some streaks of shadow .

“white night wedding is a highly enjoyable artistic production , not only because of the beauty and joy but because of the undercurrent , so quaintly heavy and intrusive , despite all the vivacity . ”

“in a nutshell , it is fair to say that white night wedding is a flawless and enjoyable movie which comes like a fresh breath of air into the darkest and coldest part of the year . ”

the white tiger essays are academic essays for citation . these papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the white tiger by aravind adiga .

meghan markle may have missed out on pippa middleton ‘s wedding ceremony but she reportedly joined prince harry to dance the night away at the reception .

there was a brief glimpse of american actress meghan markle as prince harry drove her into the middleton family home for pippa’s wedding reception on saturday night .

godina , jenya . cedars , s . r . ed . " the white tiger chapter 7 : the sixth night summary and analysis " . gradesaver , 29 november 2013 web .

wedding services include venue décor , floral arrangements , tiered wedding cakes , wedding banquets , music and dance , special romantic dining , special wedding services at the tulia spa , beauty and hair treatments at the salon , special requests for accommodation for the guests and a honeymoon suite for the newlyweds .

these problems don’t make it impossible to enjoy white night , but they do make it hard to recommend to any but existing fans of the genre . if anything its flaws can be taken as further proof of just how hard it is to make a well - balanced survival horror . and while white night doesn’t quite get things right it’s still an enjoyably frightening experience .

“the icelandic “film spring” came to an end on january 16 , and right after was followed by the outset of a long awaited icelandic film summer with the premiere of the white night wedding by baltasar kormákur – the most remarkably well done icelandic film to date . ”

people have been dying to know what meghan markle wore to pippa middleton’s wedding .

“the film white night wedding grabs the audience and never misses a beat . it gets a stronger hold as the plot unwinds and leaves a lot of good moods and things to ponder on at the end . baltasar kormákur’s film is yet another victory the already highly successful director . ”

a film by : baltasar kormákur screenplay by : baltasar kormákur & ólafur egill egilsson white night wedding was opened in iceland january 18th 2008 and was first released internationally at the toronto international film festival september 7th 2008 . at the edda awards in november 2008 the film received 7 awards .

it had been reported that meghan wore a long black dress and a white jacket to pippa’s wedding to james matthews but now it’s believed she wore something a little more like this .

she is said to have changed into an elegant , white floor - length gown for the reception .

amritpal singh and the man eventually released from custody were both arrested leaving the scene in a white maserati .

pippa’s wedding dress designer giles deacon has praised the bride’s eye when it comes to fashion .

woman wearing a black marocain dress with a white romain crepe blouse - undated , though thought to be around 1928 .

pippa and james’ wedding reportedly could have cost more than £1million - if it wasn’t for discounts .

but yesterday at pippa’s wedding to james matthews it was his younger sibling that set tongues wagging .

there ' s something pippa wore to both her own and sister kate ' s wedding . . .

pippa middleton’s uncle gary goldsmith became the unofficial source of glimpses inside the wedding of the year yesterday .

while she didn’t attend the ceremony , the suits actress reportedly joined boyfriend prince harry at the reception to dance the night away .

this is not just to help you navigate around , but to keep the ghosts at bay . there are no zombies in white night but if you’re caught in the dark by a ghost then you’ll be instantly killed , with no way to defend yourself .

interesting , unpredictable , and shadows of the white nights falls in a distance , as well as in character ' s souls .

this should be a nice time for " white night wedding " ( icelandic title " brudguminn " translates as " the bridegroom " ) . anton chekhov is flavor of the month on broadway ( " the seagull " ) and in london , via kenneth branagh ' s much - ballyhooed revival of " ivanov , " the russian playwright ' s late - 1880s debut .

according to reports , all the staff serving food and drink at the wedding were all models and actors .

the question and answer section for the white tiger is a great resource to ask questions , find answers , and discuss the novel .

guarantee the perfect movie night with tickets from fandango . find theater showtimes , watch trailers , read reviews and buy movie tickets in advance .

but now he’s faced backlash on twitter for “going against family wishes at the wedding” with his social media posts .

engagement rumours have been swirling for ages and meghan’s appearance at pippa’s wedding reception has only fuelled the speculation further .

the little sister of kate , the duchess of cambridge wore a white lace giles deacon wedding dress as she tied the knot with businessman james in front of friends and family at st . mark ' s church in englefield , berkshire on saturday morning .

the biggest hit in iceland in 2008 , white night wedding is a contemporary story loosely based on anton chekhov ' s play ivanov . it was developed simultaneously for stage and screen , with the same cast of nine top icelandic actors including hilmir snær guðnason ( the quiet storm ) , margrét vilhjálmsdóttir ( thicker than water ) , and ólafur egil egilsson , who co - wrote the script with kormákur .

at kate middleton’s wedding in 2011 , it was her younger sister pippa who was the unlikely star of the show .

it costs a staggering £3 , 000 a night to stay in a thatched beachside lodge – complete with their own personal swimming pool - on the island .

the main point that adiga makes about corruption in the novel , the white tiger , is that corruption and violence can only breed more corruption and violence .

the white tiger study guide contains a biography of aravind adiga , literature essays , quiz questions , major themes , characters , and a full summary and analysis .

trailer for film white night wedding by baltasar kormakur . jon , a middle - aged professor is going to get married tomorrow , for the second time , to one of his ex - students half his age . but its not all roses . firstly , theres his cranky mother - in - law - to - be who violently opposes the marriage and who demands repayment of jons loan before the wedding night . secondly , his plans to build a golf course on the little island of flatey where they live arent going at all to plan . thirdly his extremely drunk best man is on the loose without any shoes and lastly , the continual presence of his emotional first wife is haunting his every move . . . when the guests start flocking to the island , jon starts getting cold feet . . . after a very long night of drinking and thinking , will jon be able to make it to the church on time ?

pippa middleton and james matthews’ wedding reportedly could have cost more a huge £1million - if it wasn’t for a number of hefty discounts .

white night is by new french studio osome games , and while it has plenty of new ideas of its own its influences are very obvious . this is old school survival horror that harkens back to the original alone in the dark , the french classic which started the whole genre and was such an influence on the first resident evil .

on and on it went , one plot explosion after another — bran spilled the beans ! samwell made him re - examine those beans , and the legumes became even more spillable ! — ending with the night king’s freshly minted night dragon using that hot blue breath of his to blow a hole in humanity’s centuries - old first line of defense .

giles deacon , who crafted pippa’s stunning bespoke white lace gown , is the boyfriend of game of thrones actress gwendoline christie , better known to millions as brienne of tarth .

according to the telegraph , she wore her hair down , in a similar style to the duchess of cambridge at her wedding in 2011 .

it was widely rumoured that a social media ban had been enforced so no insider pictures of the church service or wedding reception surfaced online .

fremont — a man left comatose after being badly beaten at a wedding reception brawl saturday has shown signs of improvement , authorities said thursday .

on thursday night , 12 - year - old ananya vinay won the scripps national spelling bee after correctly spelling the word “marocain . ” but what exactly does that word mean ?

to prove its old school credentials white night even uses fixed camera views , although often it will also pan around so you can see most or all of an area at once . since most of the mansion is cast in pitch black much of the gameplay revolves around navigating the darkness and finding some sort of light source , even if it’s just more matches .

gebhardt said they were part of a group of 700 that had been attending a wedding reception at the hall , which had hired four security guards .

the bride said she didn’t know how the outsiders found out about the party , but she suspects some of the wedding guests may have told them .

so there was one thing that she wore on her own wedding day that was exactly the same as her look for the duchess of cambridge’s nuptials .

the wedding reception , which was was attended by an estimated 700 people , according to police , was saturday night but it was not known how many were officially invited . the bride has told this newspaper the fighting was started by several uninvited guests who showed up , were asked to leave and then began attacking people early sunday in the parking lot .

the film is inspired by anton checkhov ' s stage play ivanov and was filmed in the small island flatey with an all - icelandic cast and crew . white night wedding was developed simultaneously for stage and screen with the same cast . to this date the film has received the following international nominations : 1 . iceland´s entry for the oscar nominations 2009 - foreign language film . 2 . nominated for the 2008 nordic film council prize white night wedding was iceland ' s entry for the oscar nominations 2009 – the foreign language film . synopsis : jon , a middle - aged professor is about to get married for the second time . this time to a young woman , half his age . there are those who oppose to the marriage , including his future parents - in - law . when the guests start flocking to the island where the marriage is to be held , the groom starts getting cold feet . his mind goes back to the year before , when he moved to the island with his first wife . subtitles : english genre : drama audio : icelandic published : 2008 region 2 dvd

bergen - - after 2006 ' s smart policier " jar city " translated awards and critical acclaim into international art - house success , iceland ' s leading writer - director baltasar kormakur stumbles with his over - ambitious follow - up , white night wedding . " a loose chekhov update awkwardly combining comic and tragic elements , iceland ' s foreign - language oscar candidate has scored runaway domestic success . overseas audiences are unlikely to be wooed , however , and festival - exposure will derive more from kormakur ' s name than the picture ' s own uneven merits .

as people around the world talk about how beautiful pippa middleton looked on her wedding day , this morning viewers were given some workout tips inspired by her amazing arms .

acting as maid of honour for kate’s royal wedding to prince william back in april 2011 – she made a name for herself as one of the country’s most stylish socialites .

and she’s got a thumbs up from david emanuel , one half of the emanuel design team who created princess diana’s iconic wedding dress for her nuptials to prince charles in 1981 .

as you creep through the darkness , hoping to make it to the safety of the next pool of light , getting jumped by a spectre never happens quite when you expect it and the panic is always genuine . not least because of how widely space apart the save points are . white night definitely replicates the feeling of old school resident evil , where you carefully plot your next sortie according to how far you think you can make it with your current supplies .

big sister kate and husband prince william took a breather after their wedding before jetting off on honeymoon , waiting a month between their nuptials at westminster abbey and their travels to the seychelles .

when pippa middleton was maid of honour for her sister kate’s royal wedding to prince william back in april 2011 – she made a name for herself as one of the country’s most stylish socialites .

harry and meghan are said to have made a joint decision to not upstage bride on her wedding day , which is why no photos of the american actress’ involvement in the reception have emerged .

that night , balram woke dharam by shrieking when a gecko landed in the bed . surprised by his uncle’s intense fear , dharam easily disposed of the lizard . repeating the line of poetry he learned earlier , balram then lulled himself to sleep .

being scared of the dark is the most primal fear we humans have , but utilising that fact in games creates some obvious problems . if you can’t see what you’re doing or where you’re going then you’ve got real problems if you’re to make anything that’s even remotely action - orienated . that doesn’t mean it’s impossible though , and white night uses the fear of the unseen to create some interestingly unique puzzles and visuals . even if the end result is less than the sum of its parts .

the couple are said to have made a joint decision to not upstage bride on her wedding day – and it now seems that this even extended to her choice of outfit for the evening do .

with bruoguminn ( aka white night wedding ) , icelandic cause - célébré director baltasar kormákur updates the chekhov play + ivanov and geographically transports it to the island of flatey , just off the icelandic coast . at the outset of the tale , literature professor jon prepares to wed onetime student thora , the daughter of the region ' s most prosperous clan . sadly , however , disadvantageous circumstances threaten to stand in the way of the couple ' s happiness , including a fiscal dispute between the family of the bride and the family of the bridegroom , and by jon ' s complicated past - a past that involves a prior marriage that gave the young man grave self - doubts and made him feel deeply unworthy .

an unorthodox wedding caper in which , if you google image search the name of the town , you can see a real slice of life : the houses are all there , it truly is a piece of icelandic culture ( i presume . . . what do i know about icelandic culture ) . someone in iceland must agree , too , it took home seven of that country ' s national film awards including best picture . the story focuses on a professor entering his second marriage , this time with one of his students , and the upheaval it causes given the circumstances : he owes her parents a lot of money , and the mysteries around the end of his first marriage , among other things . the professor spends the night before the wedding getting drunk with his friends , and many realizations are made before the wedding is to take place . very interesting movie , well worth checking out .

one us fan , kourteney coleman , also lined the streets for kate and william’s wedding in london in 2011 and said being a fan of prince harry’s girlfriend , actress meghan markle , was added incentive to come to englefield .

and jon snow was even bolder , knock - knock - knocking on daenerys’s bedchambers door late at night , after the big meetings with cersei were over . was that 1970s porno music i detected playing in the background or just tyrion humming outside their door so he wouldn’t hear too much ?

with the wedding guests making their way home - no doubt nursing several sore heads - it looks like workmen have started to take apart the £100 , 000 marquee that housed the reception in the grounds of the middleton family home .

“they ruined our party , ’’ said kaur . “it was a huge disappointment . and we’re especially angry with royal palace at how badly they ruined our wedding by not having enough security guards on hand . they had no backup plan . ’’

fremont — the bride whose wedding last weekend was marred by a massive parking lot brawl that left two people with critical injuries , including one in a coma , said wednesday the melee was sparked by party - crashers who were asked to leave .

sarova whitesands beach resort & spa has hosted many special weddings and is well geared to create a spectacular wedding event . the resort has many interesting venues such as the palms pool island , on the beach or even in a glass bottomed boat .

daily mail estimates £100 , 000 for the marquee , £40 , 000 for the giles deacon wedding gown , £40 , 000 on russian caviar , £15 , 000 on the cake , and £2 , 000 bridal shoes helped contribute to the overall total .

this frock is among the creations ( schiaparelli ) chosen by mrs . wallis simpson , to be worn after her 1937 marriage to the duke of windsor . mrs . simpson ' s flair for sport clothes is demonstrated in the above . it is a crepe marocain , boldly printed in blue , black and white .

jon , a middle - aged professor is going to get married tomorrow , for the second time , to one of his ex - students half his age . but it ' s not all roses . first , there ' s his cranky mother - in - law - to - be who violently opposes the marriage and who demands repayment of jon ' s loan before the wedding night . second , his plans to build a golf course on the little island of flatey where they live aren ' t going at all to plan . third , his extremely drunk best man is on the loose without any shoes and lastly , the continual presence of his emotional first wife is haunting his every move . when the guests start flocking to the island , jon starts getting cold feet . after a very long night of drinking and thinking , will jon be able to make it to the church on time ?

jon , who has always believed himself to be ned stark’s bastard son , “needs to know the truth , ” bran said to samwell tarly , jon’s old night’s watch pal , newly arrived at winterfell . “jon isn’t really my father’s son . he’s the ( bastard ) son of rhaegar targaryen and my aunt lyanna stark . ”

lying in bed one night , balram convinced himself that his employers owed him enough money to hire thousands of golden - headed prostitutes . over the next two weeks , balram employed several of the techniques to steal money from his master . the more he stole from ashok , the more his resentment and feelings of vindication grew .

keeping with the highly symbolic landscape that adiga uses to characterize balram ' s mental state in this chapter , two central events here have a strong symbolic significance . first is balram ' s trip to the national zoo , where he confronts another of his doubles : the actual white tiger . this almost spiritual experience emboldens balram to embrace his white tiger identity and triumph over ashok , the lamb . it is telling that he has a mini - resurrection , losing himself and then waking with an unshaken certainty . it is a type of re - birth , exactly what he needs to truly achieve the luxury and respect that he dreams of .

manjeet kaur , 25 , of fremont , told this newspaper that the fight started after a group showed up during the reception and , after being asked to leave , waited outside and attacked the wedding guests in the parking lot of the royal palace banquet hall .

the royal palace banquet hall is photographed in fremont , calif . , on wednesday , may 10 , 2017 . a brawl at a wedding reception involving almost 70 people broke out at the banquet hall on saturday . ( anda chu / bay area news group )

i’ve been skeptical about last week’s mission north : capturing a zombie soldier to prove their reality to cersei so she would join the greater cause didn’t seem worth risking the lives of jon snow , his buddies and , as it turned out , one of dany’s dragons , who died and was resurrected as the night king’s lizard steed .

this became especially true when the episode ended with the undead dragon vs . wall fiery fly - by . the men of the night’s watch , guardians of the wall for eons , plummeted to their deaths , fresh recruits for the ghostly fighting corps that walked through that new breach and toward winterfell , lurching straight into season 8 .

here is a new video of the fremont wedding brawl provided from a second anonymous source . it was originally posted on facebook tuesday and has been viewed extensively . it shows some of the mayhem more clearly than the original video obtained by the bay area news group linked here .

if either you or your partner are under 21 years of age on the date of your marriage , and will not be accompanied by a parent or guardian : an affidavit , granting permission for the wedding to be prepared and sworn in your country of residence , prior to your date of travel .

two days later , balram eavesdropped on a conversation between mr . ashok and ms . uma as he drove them to the mall . their relationship was becoming more serious , and she pressured him to tell his family about their wedding plans , while he insisted he still needed time to get over the divorce .

that evening , balram told ashok that his family has sent him a helper , and ashok welcomed the boy . noticing that dharam was obedient and polite , balram felt guilty for hitting him . he brought the boy to a tea shop , where vitiligo - lips demanded 500 rupees he still owed from his night with anastasia , and threatened to tell mr . ashok if he did not pay .

the next morning , a guilty balram almost confessed his murderous thoughts when ashok entered the car . he stumbled to speak , and ashok assumed he was asking for money with which to be married . he gave balram a hundred rupee note towards wedding expenses , but balram also noticed the man deciding not to give him more .

as you can see the visuals are portrayed solely in black and white , in a style similar similar to frank miller’s sin city and wii game madworld . at their best the visuals are stunning , with great art design that creates a great sense of foreboding without having to resort to any gore or overt violence . ( at their worst the colour scheme just seems to be hiding some very low tech graphics , with the character’s face never looking quite right . )

raja singh , who owns a fremont photography studio , said he was hired by the groom to shoot the wedding . he said he arrived at the royal palace around 4 p . m . saturday afternoon and set up his equipment as guests started to arrive . singh said that shortly after midnight , when around 200 guests were still at the event , the fight broke out .

he and dharam took a bus to the zoo , a place balram genuinely appreciated for its beauty . while there , he stared at the old fort in the distance , remembering a line from the iqbal poem which stated that one ceases to be a slave when one discovers what is beautiful in the world . at the white tiger ' s cage , balram made eye contact with beast , thinking ahead to making eye contact with ashok before the murder . overcome with feelings , he fainted .

further , this moment continues the motif of dualities . at the characters see each other in the mirror , their roles reverse . ashok is no longer the stronger , richer , more elite version of the poor , uneducated servant balram . instead , the white tiger has gained dominion over his weaker , inferior double , the lamb . it is appropriate that this reversal takes place while out in the indian capital , since balram has established it as a city of dualities , uniting both parts of india . as balram observes , “the light and the darkness both flow into delhi” ( 215 ) .

that night , a distraught mr . ashok asked balram to drive him to the imperial hotel . on the way , he placed many frantic phone - calls , lamenting that their “income - tax mess” would only get worse ( 231 ) . after a meeting with two politicians at the imperial hotel , mr . ashok asked balram to drive two men around town , while ashok stayed behind . one of the men was vijay , balram’s childhood hero , who had risen in the political ranks . in the car , vijay and his colleague drank ashok’s whiskey while laughing about the bribe he was to pay them .

the third big fake out came after tyrion seemed to talk cersei into coming back to the arena of negotiation she had walked out of . “i will march north to fight alongside you in the great war , ” cersei said , and viewers gasped at the ice queen finally demonstrating humanity . psych ! it was all a mega - ruse , we later learned , three - dimensional chess or 16 - square tic - tac - toe or some such . cersei had no intention of joining and instead would let jon and daenerys try to fight the white walkers so that she could take on their weakened forces should they win .

further escalating this sense of tension is yet another highly meaningful exchange between balram and ashok in the rearview mirror . watching his own reflection in the mirror , balram experiences a moment of dissociation from his own features , seeing himself as the white tiger , “a cat watching its prey” ( 208 ) . simultaneously , balram convinces himself that the money is rightfully his . this moment is arguably the first in which he fully commits to his plan . what adiga suggests is that the rage born of fear and resentment would never have overpowered balram ' s traditional morality , which the reader knows continues to resonate within him . instead , he had to rationalize the murder , to fit it within his moral framework .

this icelandic comedy takes part on an island outside the northwest coast . they have a church , a priest , german tourists , a grocery , a white trasher who wants to start a golf business and most of all . . . they ' ve got this middle - aged philosophy teacher , who wants to start a new life with his mentally weak wife . but he meets this young girl and the circus is on . or the chaos . the first half of this film is full of flashbacks . the content is both very tragical and most comical , but in this case , they don ' t match . a good try perhaps , but not enough of it to make this a good movie . and the flashback technique could have been used with some moderation .

icelandic film that would appear to be your typical romantic comedy judging by the movie poster . there ' s a whole lot more happening than the goofy mess that can be found in the u . s . theaters almost every weekend . this is art house goodness in almost every sense . what a beautiful , unique location this takes place in : a small , car - less island just off the coast of iceland . a man is about to marry a woman half his age and has flashbacks to his previous wife and what happened in that marriage in the year leading up to this wedding . there are so many emotions going through several of these characters . the story almost seamlessly flips back and forth between past and present . blink and you might miss which time frame it ' s in . a pretty interesting story that so easily helps establish the fact that foreign ( to me ) cinema is often much better than typical american trash ! ( oh , and there ' s a great joke included about big burger butt americans ! haaa ! ! ! ) 7 . 1 / 10 stars - - zoooma , a kat pirate screener

hmmmmm . and an admiring hmm at that . first thing i thought of is the same kind of emotional juxtaposition or almost confusion that rings through this movie as reykevik 101 ( the director ' s first film ) . back then i was very uncomfortable with that , now still not normal per se but more manageable yet kind of refreshing . base on an chekhov ' s ivanov , the film alters back and forth wonderfully over time on events before and immediately leading up to a wedding on an island between an professor and a young girl . while the story ' s theme obviously stated in the movie and told by the director in q & a , is about searching for happiness and doing the " right " thing , many hilarious moments are interjected directly with the dramatic moments and vice versa . and these moments of emotional swings are very immediate creating a push and pull effect . and this might affect some audience immersing into the story . q & a also brought out the same cast also acted in a stage production of the same play during the same time as the film ' s release in iceland and was a very successful run . at times though , i did find a certain " lecturing " aspect in a few of the scenes . so although good , still a very idealistic or somewhat protruding kind of meandering .

as the film opens we watch a bride and a groom exchanging wedding vows . at a crucial moment , a cellular phone rings . it belongs to jon , the groom , who excuses himself to answer . the call is from his parents , who seem to be lost and want directions . we suddenly realize it is not the real thing , but a rehearsal for the event . the action takes place in a small island off the coast of iceland . jon , a former college professor , has escaped to this isolated spot after being fed up with his life . he came with anna , an artist , with whom he has been living . anna shows signs of depression , or perhaps another affliction that keeps her emotionally apart from jon . one of jon ' s students , thora , arrive with a group of friends in flatey . she has ties to the island . her parents own the main store . it appears she was always attracted to her teacher , who is about twenty years her senior . their affair plays heavily into anna , who becomes even more despondent , leading ultimately to her own demise . director baltasar kormakur , whose " the sea " made an impression , is at it again . the film is not exactly easy to sit through . the narrative may confuse his audience , but we realize there are two situations taking place at different times . the film was co - written by the director and ogaful egilsson . the creators tried to give the film a lighter pace , what with the idea of the golf course running through one small island into flatey and different holes running among the residential area . the result is a film that needs to be viewed with an open mind because mr . kormakur has proved worthy of our attention . the icelandic cast does justice to the director ' s intentions .

after seeing this film , i wanted to see it again . the characters were so complicated . there was the middle aged professor , who had grown weary of his mentally ill wife and had fallen for a young student of his . there was his friend , a big oaf and church organist , who had never found true love in his life . there was the repressed priest , who was a step away from realizing that he had found the wrong calling . there were the future in - laws . the father of the bride is a working man , who has the voice of luciano pavrotti , and regrets he never tried to be a great tenor . there is the cynical and jealous mother of the bride , whose main reason for hating her future son - in - law is that he never has repaid a debt that he owes . this is all on an island in northern iceland . it is a small island where everyone knows everyone else ' s dirty laundry , yet somehow fools still believe that they can hide their lives . there are the tourists from all over , who come to this island where there is basically nothing . still , to scare up tourism , the locals foolishly believe that they can advertise the place as a tourist mecca . the groom and his childhood friend dream of the money that they will make when they build their golf course ( basically , teeing off from the a rock out in the water ) . the movie is sad . the professor groom really hurt his wife , driving her to suicide by bringing his bride to be to the island for a wedding . in his perverse guilt , the groom believes that somehow he will bring peace over his adultery and abandonment of his wife . while not as good as the sea , this is still a delightful movie that is filled with good witticism .

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seljavegur 2 is - 101 reykjavík iceland . tel . + 354 511 7060 fax . + 354 511 7061 blueeyes @ urltoken

blueeyes productions / sögn ehf . was founded by baltasar kormákur and lilja pálmadóttir in 1999 and has its headquarters in downtown reykjavík . the productions have included feature films , quality stage productions and a 6 - part tv series , but for the last two years the key focus has been solely on feature films . to this date the company has produced six feature films ; additionally two are in post - production , one of which will be premiered in january 2008 . furthermore , four other feature films are in development .

blueeyes productions has throughout the years collaborated with some of iceland’s finest and most creative artists and professionals within the field , as well as internationally acclaimed artists . these successful collaborations have brought home a large number of both national and international awards and nominations , and have furthermore inspired the company to continue its search for innovative ways of storytelling and film - making .

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brúðguminn is a movie starring hilmir snær guðnason , margrét vilhjálmsdóttir , and laufey elíasdóttir . jon , a middle - aged professor is going to get married tomorrow , for the second time , to one of his ex - students half his age . but it ' s not all roses . first , there ' s his cranky . . . see full summary »

lakeith stanfield and his sorry to bother you crew reveal their most soul - crushing jobs in our freewheeling interview .

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a rich father in a fisher village plans to take on the project of writing his life story . but first he has to take on his own family , and everybody wants something . . .

thirty - year - old hlynur still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking , watching porn and surfing the net while living off unemployment checks . a girl is interested in him , but he . . . see full summary »

a murder opens up a bleak trail of long buried secrets and small town corruption for a worn out police detective and his squad .

based on actual events , a fisherman tries to survive in the freezing ocean after his boat capsizes off the south coast of iceland .

a husband and wife tangle with an investigator over her dead brother ' s million - dollar insurance policy .

icelandic auteur baltasar kormákur ( contraband , 2 guns , everest ) directs and stars in this psychological thriller about a father who tries to pull his daughter out of her world of drugs and . . . see full summary »

georg tries to get his life back on track after a five year stint in jail .

a reykjavik pre - school teacher struggles to raise her daughter while selling casual sex to help make ends meet .

páll is an artistic and sensitive young man . getting dumped by his girlfriend , dagny , triggers his descent into madness . we follow him on his way to what seems like inevitable doom ; at home . . . see full summary »

a couple goes to dangerous lengths to find a lung donor for their daughter .

an art - house comedy about an ordinary family running the unusual business of elf tourism and spiritual sessions . their house is built around an elf stone , which is sacred to the wife lara , . . . see full summary »

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börn náttúrunnar | children of nature ( 1991 ) trailer dir . friðrik þór friðriksson

iron man , ( robert downey , jr . , terrence howard ) , trailer

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movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .

the films uneasy shifts in tone disrupt the sense of rhythm needed for the comic elements to work .

. . . it ' s almost impossible work up any enthusiasm for the foibles of the various characters thanks to an emphasis on eye - rolling instances of quirkiness and melodrama .

kormakur , in collaboration with co - writer olafur egilsson , transplants the story to iceland ' s bleakly scenic second - largest island flatey , which looks just great via bergsteinn bjorgulfsson ' s cinematography . here we find self - absorbed college - lecturer jon ( hilmir snaer gudnason ) preparing to marry his former student thora ( laufey eliasdottir ) and morosely pondering his previous relationship with mentally - unstable artist anna ( margret vilhjalmsdottir ) .

deploying some flashily jagged editing techniques , kormakur cuts between past and present , building up to the predictably ( and rather heavy - handedly ) chaotic nuptials . these center on the island ' s atmospheric church , which features murals painted 40 years ago by kormakur ' s own catalan - artist dad . another notable visual moment involves an outdoor midnight - sun feast that concludes with myriad banknotes fluttering away on the breeze - - an image given savagely ironic significance in the light of iceland ' s economic woes .

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i liked the first half of the movie because of the beautiful scenery of iceland . the island is beautiful , the small community on it is interesting and one can easily start to dream how it might be to live in there . some characters are really funny and definitely likable ( the huge viking - looking friend of the lead character is definitely someone who would be very cool to party with ) . and the " development project " for the island is funny and crazy as well . on the other hand the story was somewhat hard to understand for me . it took me half of the movie to actually understand that the movie is basically a big pile of mess assembled from scenes from " the past " and scenes from " the present " . these scenes are blended so homogeneously that they actually seem to be single linear yet surreal story . actually i was not sure if there is one lead character who has one wife and tries to marry another one or if there are identical twins or what the hell happens . i was confused . the cuts basically do not give any clues about temporal relations of individual scenes . so i have started to untangle the storyline mess only at the end - and the resulting story was not something i would like . especially the lead character is very ugly in the resulting picture - cold , weak and immoral . his first wife was much more interesting and true character . maybe it would be better for me if i spent the rest of the movie in false idea that it is just visually beautiful , surreal , experimental movie .

i ' ve loved iceland since my layovers in rekjavik on the way to france a couple times so i was looking forward to a film that would allow me to return to this beautiful place . and , as it turned out , the scenery was the best part of this frustrating tragicomedy . am i the only one who thought jon was attempting bigamy for much of this film ? it was only toward the end that i realized the stuff about his first wife was only a flashback and not a concurrent soap opera . i found this to be the archetypal movie that doesn ' t know what it wants to be - - a profound mediation on the idiocy of irresponsible men going through menopause ( a la bergman ) or a zany romp about love conquering all . all the stuff about jon ' s mentally ill first wife was both heart - wrenching and tedious . i sympathized with her plight and i tired of watching her strew seaweed all over the place . one character i did enjoy was jon ' s future mother - in - law . i understood her extreme skepticism toward a graying deadbeat marrying her young daughter . i don ' t think she was obsessed with money ; rather , she was identifying a critical flaw in the match . the final scene was both ridiculous and sad . maybe the whole movie was . i ' m just glad i got to see my dear iceland again . . .

hi i ' m icelandic ( this comment is biist because i hate the director ) this movie is an insult to all movie ' urltoken ' s a tragedy tale were the only remotely enjoyable characters are in the background , you don ' t feel for the main character because most of the time your ' e just too bored . the main character is in a dangerous situation he owes his soon - to - be - in - laws money and knows that if he leaves his fiancé her parents are gonna make him own so he ' s in a challenging situation to stay with the fiancé when he doesn ' t like her and being trapped or leave having to confront his debt . the character has no character he just goes in a depressed state considers suicide he stays with her trapped , sad then a depressing urltoken over

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christmas , again is a 2014 drama romance written , directed , and produced by charles poekel .

the film features kentucker audley in the lead role as a christmas-tree salesman returning to new york city .

the film had its premiere at the 2014 locarno international film festival in switzerland and the 2015 sundance film festival in the united states .

christmas , again

christmas , again <EOT> “christmas , again” is not rated . running time : 1 hour 20 minutes .

christmas , again becomes the kind of christmas movie not very common anymore . one lacking in cynicism and irony .

“christmas , again” premiered this week at the locarno film festival . it does not currently have distribution .

" christmas , again " captures something ineffably moving about the holiday grind , as depicted in the life of a seasonal christmas tree seller .

there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about christmas , again !

plot never totally dominates ' christmas , again , ' which is largely a collection of moments , all about the grind of living in this particular skin .

the traditional holiday movie builds towards some climactic takeaway : a troubled character finds new value through the convenience of the christmas spirit . “ christmas , again , ” the bittersweet debut from writer - director charles poekel , is a welcome deviation from that tendency .

the title christmas , again says it all , really . in charles poekel’s directorial debut , christmas is less of a joyous holiday and more of a hurdle to jump over . at least that’s what it’s like for noel ( kentucker audley ) , a christmas tree salesman in new york city working the night shift . poekel isn’t cheery or sentimental in his approach , but he also doesn’t make his film an exercise in misery . with a low - key , melancholy tone throughout , christmas , again pleasantly goes against expectations , winding up as a minor , well - observed character study .

yet another indie christmas - themed film thickly coated with an overall sense of bah humbug . even the film’s title suggests a feeling of irritation towards the recent influx of holiday melancholy over the years . however , first - time writer / director charles poekel’s christmas , again reverses the trend with an uplifting tale of one man’s emotional turnaround at the hands of some old - fashioned christmas spirit .

despite its melancholy aura , however , christmas , again still manages to paint the holidays as a magical time . new york may be gloomy here , but the image of noel standing against some traditional colored bulbs should make anyone nostalgic for the childlike wonder that always accompanied christmas . a third act trip to drop off and set up trees on christmas eve delivers even more glad tidings ; during this sequence , we’re treated to scenes that find new york’s young and old finding delight in nothing more simple than a 6’ balsam fir . because , ultimately , christmas , again is about finding joy in the simple things after years of living with complicated ones . to have a happy christmas , sometimes all you need is a gift and the warmth of a companion well met .

as yuletide offerings go , charles poekel’s “christmas , again” might as well be called “it’s a so - so life” — a downbeat but never outright depressing reminder that the holidays tend to look a lot less jolly from the vantage of those peddling christmas cheer . whereas david sedaris made the same point with considerably more wit in “the [ … ]

a heartbroken christmas tree salesman returns to new york city to put his past behind him .

though not outwardly comedic in tone , “christmas , again” does offer an amusing critique of holiday cheer . as noel makes house calls , awkwardly lugging trees into a variety of homes throughout the city , his clients barely notice his presence — but we do . both pitiable and amusing , he’s like the ghost of christmas present for an age of ambivalence .

noel , who lives in a trailer , one night takes in a young woman , lydia ( hannah gross ) , who has passed out on a bench . whether these two might provide some comfort for each other is the closest that “christmas , again” comes to having a plot .

nicely done indie film about loss , might just be the most finely tuned melancholy christmas film ever .

noel ( kentucker audley ) , the appropriately named protagonist of “ christmas , again , ” approaches the holiday season more as he would a duty than an occasion for good cheer . for a brief period each year , he ventures from upstate new york to greenpoint , brooklyn , to sell christmas trees . he stands stoically while customers snap pictures of the firs on their cellphones or pepper him with questions about different evergreens .

christmas , again tells the story of noel , a young man who travels from upstate ny every year to sell christmas trees in new york city . returning without the help of his long - time girlfriend , this year noel finds it impossible to do the one thing he knows so well - - - sell christmas trees . as noel begins to spiral downwards , alienating co - workers and customers in the process , it turns out this same community of people may be the only ones capable of saving noel from self - destruction .

shot on grainy 16mm by cinematographer sean price williams ( “listen up phillip” ) , “christmas , again” offers the unique pairing of vibrant holiday colors with a foundation of gritty realism built around its impressive lead performance . the character is himself a contrast to his surroundings — a low energy sad sack named , of all things , noel .

it ' s interesting to note that poekel sold christmas trees for five years to get the money to finance the film .

the lead character of " christmas , again " is named noel ( kentucker audley ) —too cutesy a name to be believed , but it ' s skipped over like a pebble jumping across a pond . noel spends most of his year working construction " upstate " but every christmas time , he is one of those guys you see on almost every corner in new york , selling christmas trees ( plus wreaths , stands and lights ) . it ' s seasonal work , and post - christmas , those guys vanish suddenly and then re - appear the next year . poekel himself worked this seasonal job , and the film is great in showing how it all operates . noel works the night - shift and oversees his two day - shift workers .

as the title suggests , “christmas , again” is concerned with how the holidays are , for some , a time of lonely resignation . ( sporting a green winter jacket , noel sometimes looks ready to camouflage himself in his merchandise . ) the cinematographer , sean price williams , shoots on 16 - millimeter film , suffusing the film with wintry colors and , at times , visible grain . this is a christmas movie in which magic exists largely on the periphery , and that is just the right mix of chilly and sweet .

this is a christmas movie in which magic exists largely on the periphery , and that is just the right mix of chilly and sweet .

a truly quiet movie but one that ' s also consistently rewarding . i hope you guys aren ' t as lonely as noel this christmas .

by the end of christmas , again’s brief runtime , poekel’s preference of little to no narrative momentum begins to wear things down , but not enough to cause any serious damage . for the most part , the listless tone helps establish the film as a refreshing take on the christmas movie . it doesn’t like to think big or provide a neat character arc , preferring to act as a brief snapshot into one person’s wistful existence during the holidays . it may not be the most exciting thing to watch , but it provides something unique , relatable and ultimately worthwhile .

“it was christmas and mom was always going , ‘calm down . ” and i had a couple of drinks and i put it out there . ”

the very nature of their kinship implies that not every bored , disgruntled urban young adult falls into the neatly defined conventions of cynicism and privilege . by merely breaking away from those clichés and carving out an charming fresh path , poekel makes a quietly defiant statement . “christmas , again” hints at the arrival of a promising new voice , but doesn’t blast it , instead adopting the same gentle allure of the poekel’s forlorn protagonist .

notably , while “christmas , again” provides yet another microbudget snapshot of brooklyn living , it stands apart from countless rambling meditations on urban youth culture . hailing from upstate and planning to return there after the holiday , noel is a transitory figure at odds with his surroundings in more ways than one . lydia follows suit . though she’s given less of a backstory , she offers the semblance of catharsis without becoming a one - note panacea .

though it runs just 78 minutes , christmas , again still feels a touch too long and , as such , maybe overplays its hand a bit . though we’re given an admirably realistic resolution , i couldn’t help but wish for a touch more ambiguity , a reflection of the amorphousness of noel’s transition into an unsure future . focus shifts slightly in the movie’s final moments , which feels jarring in a film that’s centered so tightly around one man’s journey .

delicate and restrained , the film offers the messages of redemption and renewal we so often crave from a christmas movie without wrapping its themes and characters in tinsel .

i have a soft spot for plotless movies about sad people . the fact that it ' s set around christmas makes it sadder , and makes me like it even more .

there ' s no hollywood ending here , but though little has happened plot - wise , we sense that this christmas just might have been transformative for two lonely , drifting souls .

there are glimpses of unexplained strangeness : in the trailer , noel listens to what seems to be a tape of an old - timey melodramatic radio show . he keeps pills ( for anxiety ? pain ? sleep ? ) in different windows of a cheap advent calendar , popping one a day . when lydia ( hannah gross ) , a drunk girl he helps one freezing night after finding her passed out on a bench in the park , with only one shoe , and gum tangled in her hair , shows up the next day with a pumpkin pie she baked to thank him , he ' s not sure how to react . a more conventional film would have had lydia be the quirky girl who helps noel find joy in the christmas season . " christmas , again " resists . lydia moves out of the film . she returns , and leaves again . the two try to play cards . she tries to talk to him . he is kind but remote . silence dominates but it ' s full , not empty .

charles poekel’s debut feature christmas , again moves him from the nonfiction world he’d previously been in , working as the dp on niche occupational docs like hey bartender and all in : the poker movie , to a fictional world that retains a verite style . this isn’t far from the kind of documentaries that follow one guy through his life . there isn’t any flashy camera work or melodramatic plot twists , only a man with a symbolically interesting job . that man , noel ( kentucker audley ) , is selling christmas trees in an nyc park . where he used to do this kind of seasonal work with a long - term girlfriend , he now is selling them alone . noel’s ( get it ? ) dreary day - to - day life is juxtaposed with the cheer the…

it’s december . it’s cold . red , green , and blue bulbs glow over a small christmas tree stand . there resides noel ( kentucker audley ) , soft - spoken and swimming in flannel . he sells trees , adorns wreaths , and mingles with a rotating cast of new york locals . “christmas sucks , ” one mutters , and noel doesn’t argue . it ain’t what it used to be , that’s for sure .

none of these events are highlighted in a way that telegraphs " here is the plot . " " christmas , again " asks us to submit to the mood because that is where the profundity and emotion exists . new york is narrowed down to one corner , but on that corner a bustling diverse life occurs . cinematographer sean price williams , who helped shoot albert maysles ' " iris , " and also shot indie hit " listen up philip " , often blurs out the background , fuzzed - out colored strings of lights filling up the space behind people ' s faces . the light is harsh in the morning , and dark blue at night . you can feel how cold it is .

one of the most important challenges for a director ( along with the cinematographer and editor of any given film ) is to create the proper mood for the story . mood may be more important than words , because words come out of—or are contextualized by—mood . mood is ephemeral , but it helps establish point of view and orients us in the dream - space of the film . with all of the things that " christmas , again " ( written and directed by charles poekel in his feature debut ) does well ( and it does almost everything well ) , the most striking thing about it is its evocation of an extremely specific mood . once we settle into it , and it happens early , everything else becomes possible .

a heartbroken christmas - tree salesman returns to new york city hoping to put his past behind him . living in a trailer and working the night shift , he begins to spiral downwards until the saving of a mysterious woman and some colorful customers rescue him from self - destruction .

starring kentucker audley ( “sun don’t shine” ) as a downtrodden loner selling christmas trees in brooklyn in the aftermath of a breakup , and the fleeting connection he finds with a fellow lost soul , the movie makes no grand gestures but provides a satisfactory arrangement of many small ones .

the monotony of noel’s job takes a turn for him when he finds lydia ( hannah gross ) passed out on a bench near his work . after letting her sleep in his trailer , she vanishes the next morning , only to return again days later . noel and lydia strike up a sort of casual friendship , one more out of necessity than by choice . both of them have similar issues , and their isolation only draws them closer together . poekel ends up taking their relationship in an unexpected direction by the end , one that’s surprisingly satisfying considering its lack of a clear resolution .

a mopey , little whisp of a film that can only be felt , rather than described . pregnant with unspoken emotions that flicker on & off across the lead actor ' s face , like the out - of - focus christmas lights that litter the screen , this a movie that is so quiet & unassuming , it most definitely requires a second viewing .

for five straight years , noel ( kentucker audley ) has traveled from upstate new york to brooklyn in order to sell christmas trees on the sidewalk . mostly working the night shift , noel struggles mightily to maintain an affable demeanor in the face of demanding customers and lackluster co - workers due to the fact that he misses his old crew ; more specifically , his girlfriend . …

audiences thus slowly get to know noel , who’s clearly become a man of few words since the breakup and who seems to just blindly forge ahead , as if on autopilot . but this being a christmas movie , a spark of good tidings and cheer can be found on a nearby park bench , where noel finds lydia ( canadian actress hannah gross ) , who’s so wasted she hasn’t noticed a homeless man has taken her mobile phone .

noel’s been selling christmas trees in this spot for five years now , but something’s different this year . “that sign’s new , ” he observes of his surroundings . “they paved the road , never thought they’d do that . ” but it’s noel , not new york , that’s changed . he’s newly single and , as such , left without his longtime crew . instead , he’s saddled with a pair of slackers ( jason shelton and oona roche ) and the aching weight of memories that accompanies not just this spot , but the holidays themselves . in pouring rain and drifting snow , noel sulks behind his beard , speaking in monosyllables as he sells trees to yuppies , scumbags , and healthy , happy families . one night , however , he stumbles upon lydia ( hannah gross ) , passed out on a park bench . he gives her refuge for the night , and , as christmas looms closer , she weaves in and out of his life .

the film consists mainly of noel’s countless short exchanges with his co - workers and a series of customers , who range from kind to disinterested , funny to bizarre ( one of them actually lands a punch on noel’s face ) . as per the press kit , most of these encounters were inspired by the director’s own interactions with clients as a christmas - tree peddler , a job poekel started with the idea of funneling both his experiences and the money earned into his feature debut .

where all this is headed can’t exactly be called shocking , though noel and lydia nicely underplay their growing rapport and there’s indeed a sense that the withdrawn noel slowly melts in the presence of this girl who — what else ? — bakes him a cake to thank him for taking care of her . cue the christmas songs about cold winter nights and heart - warming occurrences , though thankfully poekel ' s song choice is a little more offbeat and eclectic than usual for holiday films .

for a fifth consecutive december , a heartbroken noel returns to new york city to work the night shift at a sidewalk christmas tree lot . devoid of any holiday spirit , he struggles to stay awake during the long , chilly nights in his trailer , while the daytime traffic keeps him from getting any real rest . as he slowly spirals into despair , he comes to the aid of a mysterious young woman in the park . her warming presence , matched with some colorful customers , help rescue him from self - destruction .

if the new yorkers around him can be divided into white - collar and blue - collar types , noel belongs to a third category : an underspoken flannel - collar guy from upstate who feels out of place in the big city . such characters rarely serve as the focus of an entire feature , and that novelty provides a zen - like calm at the center of the stress the gothamites around him bring to the christmas season . ( an interaction with one douchebag glued to his smartphone underscores how different he is from the locals . )

customers mostly come and go , though one flirty young lady requests a christmas eve delivery that sounds more enticing that it turns out , and the girl from the park bench resurfaces — as does her jealous boyfriend — to break up the routine . efficiently trimmed by editor robert greene ( “listen up philip” ) , the pic’s charm comes from its moments of unforced naturalism : little observations about the way people behave , paired with details and anecdotes that poekel himself lived during his years operating mcgrolick trees , the same stand where the film was shot .

this movie is not for those who " l - l - l - l - ove " christmas ( insert smiley face and / or festive yuletide thingy here , with irony ) , so that takes care of the warning up front . it ' s melancholy . very , very melancholy . it ' s also surprisingly effective and quietly moving . it captures tedium perfectly , and that combined with grief and loneliness makes it a realistic , wistful trifecta . bonus : brooklyn in chilly winter . i liked this weird little gem , though will be sure not to rewatch it in the holiday season .

the story takes place " sometime fairly recently , " at a street corner in greenpoint , brooklyn , where the auspiciously named noel ( audley ) works the nightshift at a makeshift christmas - tree stand that’s open 24 / 7 for most of december . as slowly emerges from snippets of conversations , a lot has recently changed for noel , for whom this is the fifth year on the job . this time around , he’s decided to work nights , most likely as a result of his break - up with his girlfriend , mary - ann , " that nice girl from last year " that clients rather unfortunately keep asking him about .

and that ' s pretty much it , in terms of plot . things do happen : noel is annoyed at the lackadaisical attitude of his underlings ( " nick , you gotta be better at sweeping up the needles , man . . . " ) , goes every day to swim and shower at a nearby ymca , buys lotto tickets . noel is quiet , but not apathetic about his job : he is ambitious to sell as many trees as possible . people who recognize him ask if " marianna " is with him , and he replies , " not this year " without elaborating . maybe she ' s an ex - girlfriend . it ' s not clear . maybe they worked the christmas season together and he had a crush on her and that ' s as far as it went . ( that somehow seems more likely . he seems like an unrequited kind of guy . )

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75 % or higher after a set amount of reviews ( 80 for wide - release movies , 40 for limited - release movies , 20 for tv shows ) , including 5 reviews from top critics .

crafted with affection and attentive to workaday rhythms , this first feature from writer - director charles poekel demonstrates an authentic feel for the neighborhood , where he himself once sold trees .

the film amounts to a collection of indelible moments , many of them piercingly lovely and delicate .

the most striking thing about it is its evocation of an extremely specific mood . once we settle into it , and it happens early , everything else becomes possible .

poekel keeps things natural , letting noel ' s sadness slowly permeate the atmosphere along with the scent of pine needles rather than ringing it out at high volume .

basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

roger ebert ' s speech on empathy for the " 11th hour " series on april 9th , 1994 , being republished here in honor of his birthday june 18 .

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noel has interactions with various customers : an impatient guy with a bluetooth who takes pictures of various trees to text to his wife ( " hold the tree straight , " bluetooth guy commands ) , a seemingly flirtatious woman who admires the holly noel put in the wreaths , a woman who asks " do you have the obama tree from ohio ? " , and an intense guy who asks , " do women like douglas fir or balsam fir better ? " some of the interactions have more reverb than others , but they remain isolated incidents with their own internal tensions and a strong cumulative effect . one night , a guy comes up behind him and punches him in the head with no warning . later noel admits , " i been punched before " and you believe it .

kentucker audley is a naturally charismatic actor . in " kurt cobain : montage of heck , " courtney love observes that her husband " had no idea he was as good - looking as brad pitt , " and you get the sense that noel is the same way . his handsome face flickers with emotions , gone in a flash . when he does show humor , it is only in his eyes , but it ' s there , a slight wince accompanying . audley draws you in in the way the old movie stars used to do : his emotions are clear and mysterious at the same time . loneliness does not express itself in language . loneliness is the air noel breathes . it ' s in his posture .

all of this may sound rather dull . but it ' s not . it ' s a beautifully observed film without any overt message ( thank goodness ) but drenched in melancholy and silence and cold . things sometimes resolve themselves , gently , only it ' s fragmentary , and none of it is " the point . " the point is that noel is a guy living a specific life in a specific season , dealing with emotions that are all over his face but never verbalized . there is no self - pity , no maudlin catharsis . the film has the courage of its convictions and confidence in its mood . what a pleasure to watch a film that resists being about only one thing . that resists the conventional story . that lets us enter into the life of another .

an interview with terry gilliam , director of " the man who killed don quixote . "

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in the tradition of such diy day - job dramas as “the happy poet” and “beeswax , ” poekel’s debut was inspired by three years its writer - director spent hustling evergreens to hipsters in greenpoint , brooklyn — a job that transformed the normally festive month of december into a surreal state of semi - homelessness , as poekel ( and the dozens of other tree sellers doing the same thing ) passed their nights in trailers and cars near the lots where they worked .

poekel barely bothers to invent a plot ( not that such a slender film overtly needs one ) , focusing instead on the funk his sullen protag , noel ( kentucker audley ) , feels working the stand by himself . technically , he splits the job with two young lovebirds who handle the dayshift , though being confronted with their inseparability only makes it worse , since noel associates the job with his unseen ex - g . f . , who opted to spend her holidays doing something else this year .

it’s impossible to say how serious they were as a couple ( if the label even applies , since it might have been entirely one - sided ) . offering no flashbacks and precious few clues , poekel relies on the underspoken character to convey this sense of absence through a series of prickly , passive - aggressive interactions with his two co - workers and a variety of briefly glimpsed customers . taking out his heartbreak on others , noel is curt and surprisingly unhelpful with clients , though never in a snide “bad santa” sense . audley makes him sympathetic , and at times , he’s even capable of kindness , as when he rescues a drunken girl ( ) from a park bench and allowing her to sleep it off in his camper .

poekel describes this approach as “method writing , ” though most people would call it research . this specificity gives the film texture , from the way noel wraps and prepares the trees for sale to the night a synthetic blanket catches fire and nearly burns down his caravan , while an almost allergic resistance to melodrama keeps the experience feeling real , rather than sappy — which is more than can be said of the hundreds of dead trees he sold to get this movie made .

reviewed at locarno film festival ( ) , aug . 12 , 2014 . running time : 79 min .

production : produced by charles poekel . executive producer , william poekel . co - producer , clare paterson .

crew : directed , written by charles poekel . camera ( color , 16mm ) , sean price williams ; editor , robert greene ; production designer , trevor peterson ; sound , udbhav gupta ; associate producers , eleonore hendricks , anne miller , blake wilson ; casting , hendricks .

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audley’s performance is both aloof and assured , well - rounded enough to ensure the warmth that eventually emerges from behind his gruff exterior feels not like an anomaly , but rather a wounded animal that’s taking a chance on a world it doesn’t trust . we never learn much about noel’s breakup or family or life outside of december , but he still feels like a fully formed character thanks to audley’s soulfulness and the little things poekel plants in his orbit . gross also finds a great deal of honesty in her few scenes , affirming herself as much more than a manic pixie dream girl sent to help this sad man have a happy holiday . her life seems light years more complicated than his ; if anything , she sees him as an escape from the hell that is her holidays .

this family - friendly take on the classic novel takes a light approach to its naturalistic source material .

noel and liam are alleged to have broken into gladys tomlinson’s manchester home in 1989 .

the children quiz liam on his favorite disney movie , what song he most enjoys playing , and his favorite type of farts .

a customer mentions the nice girl who worked at the stand last year , clearly noel’s ex . whether heartbroken or simply laconic , noel seems reluctant to make conversation unless directly addressed .

but this is a film of process , mood , tempo and even suspense . ( noel will have to pay for any unsold trees . ) the writer and director , charles poekel , a cinematographer making his feature directorial debut , opened a stand of his own partly for research .

audley ( ain’t them bodies saints ) , in practically every frame of the film , has to carry this feather - light narrative on his shoulders and does so with ease . his noel seems to do very little and isn’t particularly warm or sympathetic , yet there’s something fascinating about simply watching him getting on with the business of selling trees , which , much like his funk , is clearly a seasonal thing . opposite him , gross ( i used to be darker ) is an affable presence , though her character is more of a vision than anything resembling a girl with an actual personality .

though the budget was clearly tiny , dp sean price williams ( the color wheel , listen up philip ) did shoot the film on 16 mm , which lends the cinematography a pleasant , old - school feeling , with the grain functioning as a kind of gauze and the initial restlessness of williams ' camera slowly steadying as noel finds his bearings .

also of particular note is the enormous , hooded green winter coat that lydia wears , which in some shots makes her look like someone out of a hans christian andersen fairy tale even if the garment always remains credible as the kind of thing a brooklyn hipster would fish out of a well - stocked second - hand store .

over the course of its trim 80 - minute plot , the subdued audley imbues his character with gently affecting melancholic depth . a far cry from some of the more energetic personalities he’s portrayed in other small - scale narratives , audley imbues noel with the characteristics of a frightened lost soul . working the graveyard shift on a bland lot and regularly berated by his boss for not selling enough trees , noel spends most of his sleepy routine sitting around and gazing wistfully at photos of his former flame . but his routine gets shaken up during a chance encounter on the street with a mysterious woman named lydia ( hannah gross ) whom he discovers passed out drunk on a park bench . dragging her back to his place , he instigates an ambiguous relationship as the similarly low key lydia regularly pays him visits to discuss her own alienated life and relationship troubles . though their relationship only develops up to a certain point , it’s that very same restraint that allows the story to make a compelling break with convention .

far from the solution to his troubles , lydia merely offers the possibility of hope in fresh companionship . poekel’s muted screenplay frames their story in basic terms , avoiding the prospects of a tidy climax and allowing the somber nature of his characters to take the lead . the result is a lightweight but utterly likable riff on urban loneliness that never forces its themes .

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copyright © 2018 tribute ent . media group last updated : july 9 , 2018

a . v . club review . still haven ' t seen any of kentucker audley ' s films as writer - director , but if his performance here is typical , he ' s a hell of an actor . ( just realized you can ' t use " helluva " in front of a noun beginning with a vowel . )

ah the comfortable feeling of movies with no plot . this movie was a treat .

le tengo cierto cariño a películas sin trama y sobre gente triste . el hecho de que ésta esté situada durante diciembre , la hace más triste , y a mí me gusta más .

i hate the name , but it ' ll have to do as a placeholder . as far as i can tell , relative to…

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