Author: - The Reykjavik Grapevine

What If The Nazis Had Invaded Iceland?

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Another alternative history thought exercise to wrap your head around What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend…

What If The Nordic Countries Had United?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

What If There Had Been a Revolution in Iceland?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

What If… Iceland Had Joined The British Empire?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

What If… Iceland Had Been Wiped Out By A Volcano?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

What If… Icelanders Had Colonised North America?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

What If… The Vikings Had Conquered The World?

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What if? It’s a pretty open-ended question and one friend of the Grapevine Valur Gunnarsson is applying to eight relevant-to-Iceland…

Blue Skies and Lumbering Whales: Landlubber finds whale watching heaven

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It was a cold, crisp November day. The sea was mostly still and, even rarer for Iceland in autumn, the…

Velvet Terrorism Will Save The World

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The opening of the Pussy Riot concert at the National Theatre is almost unbearably sad. When Putin was first appointed…

Food Review: The Greenhouse

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Hveragerði is an odd town, occupying a strange space in the hearts of elder millennials and Gen Xers. The town,…

A Half-Elvish Film Festival: The Skjaldborg Film Festival Reviewed

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One might be forgiven for thinking that some sort of elven curse was placed upon this year’s Skjaldborg Film Festival….

Dystopian Iceland… As Usual: Iceland & The End Of The World In Hollywood

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So the Apocalypse is upon us and we are all wondering what it will look like. For Iceland, it’s business…

Echo: The Nightmare Before and During Christmas

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One of the first scenes in ‘Echo’ seems rather familiar in the context of Icelandic cinema. Man returns to the…

The City Across the Bay: ‘Agnes Joy’ Explores Teenage Life In Far-Off Suburbia

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Director Silja Hauksdóttir emerged as a director in 2003 with the charming ‘Dís,’ based on a novel she co-wrote. After…

An Unusual Year in Icelandic Cinema As Usual

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It‘s been a good year for Icelandic cinema with 66 films accepted into international film festivals. This ranges from classic…

Polish-Icelandic: A Society Emerges

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Poles are by far the largest immigrant group in Iceland, so it was high time someone made a movie about…

Having A Ball With Simon Le Bon: Duran Duran In Iceland

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If someone in Glasgow asks you if you are a Celtics or Rangers fan, simply stating that you don’t follow…

Eclipsing the Sun: Living Legends Take Laugardalur

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There are a few concerts which can be said to have changed the Icelandic pop landscape. One of these was…

Hallgrímur Helgason: “No One Is Afraid Of Laxness Anymore”

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Hallgrímur Helgason is Iceland’s best known Icelandic authors—well, after Halldór Laxness. His books have been translated to dozen of other…

From Eurovision to Bloody Murder: The Iceland Noir Festival Braces for a Storm

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Reykjavík in late November sounds like the perfect setting for a crime story, and has no doubt often been used…

Murder in Heaven: Nordic Noir and Icelandic Lit

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The third Iceland Noir festival will be held this year at the Iðnó theatre on November 15th to 18th. This…

Killing the Future: Is There A “Too Soon” On Movies About Tragedies?

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The problem with many movies about real life killers is that they are shown from the murderer’s point of view,…

The Devil and the Fiddle, or: Spoken Word Classical Rocks

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It just might be that spoken word backed by classical music could be the new rock. And not a moment…

Selfies With Sith Lords: Iceland’s Midgard Comic-Con Comes Online

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“How did Star Wars change your life?” is one of the questions posed to the panellists at Iceland’s first ever…

Murders At The Movies: Jar City Revisited

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It is surprising that even though crime fiction writer Arnaldur Indriðason is something of an industry, being the best-selling writer…