Children of Nature (1991)

You won't be disappointed!

Simply Perfect

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Thorgeir has grown old and is unable to run his farm anymore. He packs his few belongings, shoots his old dog, and leaves to the city. Living with his daughter's family doesn't work out too well, and he ends up in a nursery home - society's way of putting out people when they are no longer needed. There he meets up with Stella, and together they steal a Jeep and set out on a journey to northwest where they both grew up.Children of Nature can be a difficult film to comprehend for the casual viewer, as elements of magical realism appear suddenly and without explanation in this seemingly realistic film. However, one must be aware that this is a travel to the childhood, back to rural Iceland, where supernatural was (and partly still is) a very real part of the way of life. Through the film, Thorgeir also undergoes transformation from his very cynical outset that sees death as turning into mere trash that has to be thrown out.The beauty of Children of Nature is the way the simplistic road movie builds up into being commentary on urbanization, heritage, life and - most of all - death. The ending is one of the most powerful that I have ever seen.

I have known about this movie long time, but only recently had chance to see it. Unfortunately, I have to say that I expected something more. I cannot comment on photography as I have seen very poor copy. But as far as the storytelling goes, this film is too shallow, too naive, too lacking depth for my tastes. Number of scenes stick out like sore thumb. Take the scene where police chases the jeep with the couple: it just vanishes - without any relation to anything, without any explanation. Or the scene with that country festival - what was it? Why was it? Or the naked woman on a cliff ("ghost" as she is mentioned). If the scene wasn't there, nothing would change. And there's more of this stuff.The overall feeling is that of clumsiness. This looks more like student film than an opus from an accomplished director. I felt somewhat embarrassed for taking my girlfriend with me to see this movie.BTW, I have seen "Cold Fever" by Fridrik Thor and I think it is better movie than the "Children of Nature".

"Children of Nature" is the first Icelandic film I have ever seen and I was pleasantly surprised. It concerns two former childhood sweethearts (Thorgeir & Stella) who meet in an old age home, escape, and return to their remote hometown.This film is a nice antidote to most Hollywood movies: the stars are nasty old people, the pace of the film is slow, and there are elements of magical realism. It also doesn't hurt that the cinematography is excellent and shows off Iceland beautifully.After seeing this film, I get the impression that Iceland is a weird and wonderful place and I hope to visit soon!P.S. If you liked "Wings of Desire" you'll appreciate the cameo by the angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz).

Since making Children of Nature he not made anything worthwhile, so he has passed his peak. He's made about 4-5 very bad films since nearly winning an oscar for this average but entertaining film. And he never really made anything good before this. It's a shame that he runs the Icelandic film industry single handedly.