Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site alberta.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!alberta!bjorn From: bjorn@alberta.UUCP (Bjorn R. Bjornsson) Newsgroups: net.movies Subject: Re: Filmex: "When the Raven Flies" Message-ID: <445@alberta.UUCP> Date: Tue, 9-Apr-85 19:50:09 EST Article-I.D.: alberta.445 Posted: Tue Apr 9 19:50:09 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 10-Apr-85 06:10:50 EST References: <4681@ucla-cs.ARPA> Organization: U. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Lines: 109 reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP writes about "When the Raven Flies": > . . . . . . . . . . . . Oddly, or not so oddly, the result is > more like a Western than anything else. In fact, it's reminis- > cent of "A Fistful of Dollars", a bit more than just "reminis- > cent", really. And "A Fistful of Dollars" was a ripoff of "Yo- > jimbo". Talk about crosscultural borrowings: an Icelandic film > utilizing Viking culture telling a story stolen from an Italian > film about the American west in turn stolen from a Japanese film. > Isn't international cinema wonderful? As it happens this isn't at all odd. Another movie (this one made after a genuine, i.e. 800-900 year old saga) "Gisla saga Surssonar" (dir. Agust Gudmundsson) also has the air of a Western about it. Honor and Revenge, are standard theme components in most of the Icelandic sagas, as is accepting the adversity of live without bending. Since certain Westerns are built around similar themes it's not surprising that the results look familiar. Indeed films like "Raven" are in Iceland, sometimes referred to as "Spaghetti Northerns". > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "When the Raven Flies" is even > more shamefully stolen from "A Fistful of Dollars" . . . . . . Maybe it's been too long since I saw "A Fistful of Dollars", but I fail to see this. There is precious little in "Raven" that isn't in one Saga or another. Certainly the similarity to Westerns has not escaped attention in Iceland, but this is the first time that I've seen anyone suggest that the story was lifted intact from an existing film, script or story, and it's not as though "Fistful" is unknown in Iceland, quite the contrary. > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director Hrafn > Gunnlaugsson is a self-described disciple of Ford, Kurasawa, and > Leone. Not unexpectedly, he is not up to the best of these > directors in this outing, one of Gunnlaugsson's first. However, > Ford and Leone have made worse movies, and Kurasawa duller ones, > so perhaps there is hope for Gunnlaugsson. It certainly is in- > teresting to see a Nordic director choose these filmmakers for > his idols rather than Bergman, Sjostrom, and Dreyer. Not his first outing, but it's true that Gunnlaugsson hasn't made a great number of films. In my oppinion his best work has been in TV plays (such as "Blood-red Sunset"). > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . One of them is married to > the abducted sister of Gest, and has produced a son, Gest's > nephew, to muddy the waters (Gunnlaugsson's most obvious John > Ford tribute, "borrowed" from "The Searchers"). Again, by Occam's razor there is know reason to assume any borrowing here. This is yet another standard Icelandic saga component. A situation where a key player MUST choose between two loved ones, any choice meaning the death of either one (or worse). > Jakob Thor Eimarsson is strong, silent, and handsome as > Gest, but doesn't have the dominating physical presence of > Toshiro Mifune or Clint Eastwood, so Gest is not as mythic a fig- > ure. A more forceful actor might have helped here. Spelling-nit: Jakob Thor Einarsson > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lacking de- > tailed credits, I am guessing about the next actor, but I think > it was Edda Bjorgvinsdottir who played the major foe of Gest. > Whatever the actor's name, he is superb, a brooding leader reli- > ant on a harsh, demanding god. Edda Bjorgvinsdottir is an actress, the actor you are referring to is Helgi Skulason. > . . . Gunnlaugsson might also have done better to avoid quite so > many obvious parallels to his cinematic heros. In particular, > the score of "When the Raven Flies" is a great embarrassment. It > sounds like Ennio Morricone's rejects plastered over with some > shabby imitations of Jethro Tull and Eurythmics, and it detracts > from every moment of the film. The cinematography is fine, > though, showing the film's people and landscapes to good advan- > tage. I can't really argue about this, since I've more or less forgetten what the score sounded like. Which means that I found the score unspectacular and not quite as bothersome as you would have us believe. In any case matters of musical preference are in the realm of religion. > I rather hope that he returns to more faithful borrowings from Ice- > landic sagas for his future films, for they represent a rich and > largely untapped source of material, filled with action, drama, > and tragedy. Since no other filmmaker has shown any inclination > to work from them, . . . See my above remarks, re "Gisla saga Surssonar". As an aside, I would like to mention that the film was one of the first (if not the first) to use a Swedish videotape editing system. The film was edited entirely on videotape. First the master was transferred to tape along with frame information. After tape editing was complete, a copy of the master was cut using automated equipment driven by the frame info on the tape. This sort of equipment may be old hat in the U.S., but if not, now you know. If any of you netters have questions on the budding Icelandic film industry, I'd be more than happy to supply whatever information I have at my disposal. Lastly I would like to commend Mr. Reiher for is informative and often entertaining reviews. Bjorn R. Bjornsson alberta!bjorn