Cold Fever (Icelandic: Á köldum klaka) is a 1995 Icelandic film directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. It is a road movie set in Iceland and was the first of Friðrik's films to be made in the English language. The movie depicts the travels of a Japanese man across Iceland. It was jokingly promoted as the best Icelandic-Japanese road movie of 1995.
Synopsis
Hirata on the way to the site of his parents' death.
Hirata (Masatoshi Nagase) is a successful Japanese businessman whose plan for a two-week winter holiday in Hawaii to play golf changes when his elderly grandfather (Seijun Suzuki) reminds him that he should go to Iceland.
Hirata’s parents died there seven years ago, and the seven year death anniversary is a significant event in Japanese culture. Hirata must perform a ceremony in the river where they died after drowning in an avalanche - the drowned must be fed by the surviving family members if they are to find peace.
Hirata goes to Iceland - to Reykjavík. His final destination is a remote river on the far side of the island. He encounters one mishap and misadvneture after another. He first accidently gets on a wrong bus filled with German tourists traveling to see the hot springs. He also deals with a slight language barrier since he cannot speak any Icelandic, and knows very little English. After his first day misadvneture, Hirata decides to purchase an ancient, bright red Citroën DS to make the journey. During the long drive, Hirata meets several strange people along the way. These include the mystical woman who sells him the car, that only plays one radio station, a woman who collects photographs of funerals, two American hitchhiker/fugitives (Lili Taylor and Fisher Stevens), who turn out to be armed and dangerous whom proceed to steal his car. Nearing his destination, Hirata meets an old man (Gísli Halldórsson) named Siggi, the owner of a local lodge who teaches Hirata how to drink the most potent alcoholic beverage in Iceland.
After explaining his determination to travel to where his parents died, Hirata is aided by Siggi who borrows a pair of Icelandic horses from a local farmer, and the two of them travel on horseback to Hirata's destination. After riding across an ice cap glacier, over a ridge and into the valley where Hirata's parents died, he dismounts and tells Siggi that he must go on alone to complete his journey. After traversing a ricketly bridge to the river, Hirata arrives at the river bank where he finally performs his clensing ceremony at last.
Style
The film is humorous in tone with an unpredictable plot.[citation needed] The cinematography highlights the beauty of Iceland's glaciers, rivers, and volcanic formations;[citation needed] to accentuate this, the brief scenes in Japan were shot with the television aspect ratio of 1.33:1, while in Iceland the aspect ratio changes to the cinemascope (2.35:1).[citation needed]
The film bears resemblance to the understated style made popular by director Jim Jarmusch.[citation needed]
Themes
Cold Fever is about the value of striving hard for goals, but suggests that our most rewarding experiences are not planned, but come out of the blue.[citation needed]
Credits
Cast
- Masatoshi Nagase: Hirata.
- Lili Taylor: Jill.
- Fisher Stevens: Jack.
- Gísli Halldórsson: Siggi.
- Seijun Suzuki: Grandfather.
- Laura Huges: Laura.
- Jóhannes B. Guðmundsson: Old Man.
- Bríet Héðinsdóttir: Old Woman.
- Guðmundur Karl Sigurdórsson: Guest at Thorrablot (uncredited).
- Magnús Ólafsson: ???
- Rúrik Haraldsson: ???
- Flosi Ólafsson: ???
- Ari Matthíasson: ???
- Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir: ???
- Hallbjörn Hjartarson: ???
- Katrín Ólafsdóttir: ???
- Jóhannes Grínari: ???
Crew
- Director: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
- Screenplay: Jim Stark and Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
- Producer: Jim Stark
- Co-producer: George Gund III
- Executive producer: Reinhard Brundig, Peter Aalbæk Jensen, and Christa Saredi
- Line producer: Ari Kristinsson
- Director of Photography: Ari Kristinsson
- Production Designer: Árni Páll Jóhannsson
- Editor: Steingrímur Karlsson
- Film edition: Steingrímur Karlsson
- Sound Design: Kjartan Kjartansson
- Sound edition: Ingvar Lundberg
- Music: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
- Featuring “Killer Boogie” by Þeyr
- Costume design: María Ólafsdóttir
- Production manager: Inga Björk Sólnes
- Gaffer: Andreas Burkhard
- Generator operator: Eggert Einarsson
- Still photography: Mark Higashino
- Script supervisor: Inga Lísa Middleton
- Colour grader: Petra Schütt
- Production: Icelandic Film Corporation, Iciclefilm, Pandora Film, Sunrice Inc., Zentropa Entertainments, Georg Gund III
- Support: Film Fond of Hamburg
References
External links
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