Touches You

An unexpected masterpiece

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

In a distant country like Iceland, with low crime rate and small population, it would be odd to invent a crime story with lots of heavy criminals and weaponry involved. So you have to find some other points of references - local practices, environment, common features of mankind...Mannaveiðar is a miniseries including many particular features, letting a Nordic admirer like me to plunge into local life where similar crimes tend to evolve. The circle of suspects is big and, as usual, many people have something to hide... The police has its personnel and priority issues, and several "blasts from the past" seem to confuse both the outsiders and those involved. The characters seem realistic, the performances good, beautifully harsh Icelandic nature visible, but there is still something that fell short for me, falling behind series and films with/by Baltasar Kormákur, for example. Thus, Mannaveiðar is more at the level of Hraunið and Hamarinn, rather than Ófærð, and is hardly a story for those not interested in life in a Nordic country. I have my doubts if I would like to follow a similar story happening in Greece or Portugal...