''Jar City'' ( Icelandic: ''Mýrin'' – "The Bog") is a 2006 Icelandic film directed by

Baltasar Kormákur Baltasar Kormákur Baltasarsson (born 27 February 1966) is an Icelandic actor, theater and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films '' 101 Reykjavík'', '' The Sea'', ''A Little Trip to Heaven'', '' Contraband' ...

. It is based on ''Mýrin'', a 2000 novel written by

Arnaldur Indriðason Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced ; born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur. Biography Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son o ...

and released in English as ''

Jar City ''Jar City'', also known as ''Tainted Blood'' ('' Icelandic: Mýrin'', "The Bog") (), is a crime novel by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indriðason, first published in Iceland in 2000. It was the first in the Detective Erlendur series to be transla ...

''. Kormákur is in the midst of producing an English-language remake, also called ''Jar City'', which will be set in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

Plot

A world-weary cop comes to believe a recent murder of a middle-aged man is linked to a case of possible rape three decades earlier by a group of friends and a corrupt cop. Working through, he finds it linked to

neurofibromatosis Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a group of three conditions in which tumors grow in the nervous system. The three types are neurofibromatosis type I (NF1), neurofibromatosis type II (NF2), and schwannomatosis. In NF1 symptoms include light brown ...

, a rare disease among Nordics. One thing leads to another and he puts the pieces together. A geneticist father loses his child to neurofibromatosis and his search for answers leads to his degenerate father and unravels many missing person cases during the decade. Like the book on which it is based, the film is implicitly a semi-critique of the gene-gathering work of the Icelandic company

deCODE genetics deCODE genetics ( is, Íslensk erfðagreining) is a biopharmaceutical company based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company was founded in 1996 by Kári Stefánsson with the aim of using population genetics studies to identify variations in the hum ...

Cast

* Ingvar E. Sigurðsson as Erlendur *

Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir (; born 28 July 1982) is an Icelandic actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of the controversial character Silvía Night in the television series ''Sjáumst með Silvíu Nótt'' and during the 2006 ...

as Eva Lind * Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as Sigurður Óli * Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir as Elínborg * Atli Rafn Sigurðsson as Örn * Kristbjörg Kjeld as Katrín * Þorsteinn Gunnarsson as Holberg *

Theódór Júlíusson Theódór Júlíusson (born 21 August 1949) is an Icelandic actor. He has appeared in more than twenty films since 1994. Theódór won the 2012 Edda Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Hannes in '' Volcano''. Selected filmography ...

as Elliði * Þórunn Magnea Magnúsdóttir as Elín * Guðmunda Elíasdóttir as Theodóra * Walter Grímsson as Handrukkarar *

Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson is an Icelandic stage and film actor who starred in and co-wrote 2011's ''Either Way'', Ragnar Bragason's '' Metalhead'' and Baltasar Kormákur's '' The Deep''. Career Gunnarsson stars in the film Rams which premiered ...

* Magnús Ragnarsson as Lögfræðingur * Rafnhildur Rósa Atladóttir as Kola * Jón Sigurbjörnsson as Albert

Soundtrack

The score was composed by

Mugison Örn Elías Guðmundsson, known professionally as Mugison (born 4 September 1976), is an Icelandic musician. Early life In 1977, Guðmundsson and his family moved from Reykjavík to Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ic ...

. Track listing: # "Til eru fræ" # "Sveitin milli sanda" # "Bíum bíum bambaló" # "Erlendur" # "Elliði" # "Á Sprengisandi" # "Fyrir átta árum" # "Áfram veginn – Nikka" # "Áfram veginn" # "Halabalúbbúlúbbúlei" # "Malakoff" # "Bí bí og blaka I" # "Myrra" # "Kirkjuhvoll" # "Bí bí og blaka II" # "Dagný" # "Heyr, Ó Guđ raust mína" # "Lyrik" # "Nú hnígur sól" # "Sofðu unga ástin mín" # "Ódur til Hildigunnar" # "Svefnfræ" # "Fræsvefn" # "Svefnfræ, söngur" # "Nú legg ég augun aftur" Incidental music: Extract from George Frideric Handel's "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from the oratorio Solomon

Prizes

The film was awarded the 2007 Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the

42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival from June 29th to July 7th 2007. The Crystal Globe was won by '' Jar City'', an Icelandic police detective film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by ...

. It also won the Breaking Waves Award at the 15th Titanic International Film Festival in Budapest with a €10,000 prize; the film was screened with the title ''Bloodline''.

DVD

A Blockbuster Exclusive Region 1 DVD was released in the U.S. and Canada. Otherwise, the film was not released commercially in America. It has also been released on DVD in Europe and is available on iTunes."Jar City"
The Digital Fix (Film), 1 February 2009.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jar City 2000s thriller films 2006 films Films based on Icelandic novels Films directed by Baltasar Kormákur Films set in Iceland Films about murder Icelandic thriller films Police detective films Crystal Globe winners 2000s Icelandic-language films