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JAR CITY
Directed & Written by Baltasar Kormákur, based on the novel by Arnaldur Indriðason
Produced by Agnes Johansen, Lilja Pálmadóttir & Kormákur
Director of photography, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson
Edited by Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
Music by Mugison
Released by IFC Films
Language: Icelandic with English subtitles
Iceland. 94 min. Not Rated
With Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Björn Hlyndur Haraldsson, Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir & Atli Rafn Sigurðsson

In a triumph of style over substance, the Icelandic crime thriller Jar City manages to spin a flaccid story line – barely more engaging than an episode of Law & Order – into a masterful cinematic experience. After a recluse ex-thug is found murdered in his putrid basement apartment, detective Inspector Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) traces his death to a seemingly unconnected chain of events, including a spattering of police corruption, a few alleged rapes, and the natural death of a young girl 30 years prior. Though presented with some fanfare, most of these revelations would hardly warrant a spot on the local evening news, leaving the American viewer wondering if we’re just too jaded to perceive their severity or if the director intends them to be banal.

Despite the lack of shock value and complications, the film maintains a taut sense of suspense from beginning to end. Director Baltasar Kormákur elegantly churns the uninspired plot into a first-rate mystery by dressing it with grainy cinematography and a score reminiscent of eerie Gregorian chants. But his best move is a focus on an unlikely secondary character – Iceland itself. Like Nói , an Icelandic import from 2003, the film is loudly aware of the unique, almost otherworldly qualities of its setting, presented as both beautiful and threatening. Kormákur is constantly cutting to panoramas of the country’s stark landscape, which somehow makes one think of a Soviet lunar colony at dusk.

More than telling its story, Jar City (named after a storehouse of preserved human organs) seems dedicated to coaxing our sense of restlessness and unease. While a crime thriller aficionado (or even a causal viewer of House) could never find the movie excessively repulsive, the director is constantly playing with repellent imagery. Like a mischievous boy sneaking a frog into his little sister’s pocket, Kormákur gets his kicks juxtaposing close-ups of glazed donuts and mystery meat with rat-eaten, festering corpses. And when we see the steely protagonist using a pocket knife to carve out the eyeball of a fast-food sheep’s head (while reading the bible no less), it becomes clear that food is a tool of aversion all in itself.

Like in last year’s police procedural Zodiac, Jar City’s reward is neither suspense, mystery, nor closure. Quite simply, the film rewards the viewer with strong acting, some unexpected humor (courtesy of the detective’s fussy, fresh-faced sidekick), and the flawless cinematography of each menacing frame. Yana Litovsky
February 29, 2008