Sigur Rós has announced another run of US tour dates slated for fall 2024, in which the Icelandic band will perform alongside a 41-piece orchestra.
The tour follows Sigur Rós’ previous summer 2023 outing with the Wordless Music Orchestra, and they’ll reprise their show for eight dates across the US beginning in Detroit on September 19th. They’ll then continue the tour with dates in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Durham, Miami, and Nashville, before concluding the trek in Austin on October 4th.
A ticket pre-sale for Sigur Rós’ 2024 tour is set for Thursday, March 7th (use code Key). Tickets will then go on-sale for the general public on Friday, March 8th via Ticketmaster.
Get Sigur Rós Tickets Here
Once tickets are on-sale, fans can find last minute tickets via Stubhub — where your order is 100% guaranteed through Stubhub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may...
The tour follows Sigur Rós’ previous summer 2023 outing with the Wordless Music Orchestra, and they’ll reprise their show for eight dates across the US beginning in Detroit on September 19th. They’ll then continue the tour with dates in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Durham, Miami, and Nashville, before concluding the trek in Austin on October 4th.
A ticket pre-sale for Sigur Rós’ 2024 tour is set for Thursday, March 7th (use code Key). Tickets will then go on-sale for the general public on Friday, March 8th via Ticketmaster.
Get Sigur Rós Tickets Here
Once tickets are on-sale, fans can find last minute tickets via Stubhub — where your order is 100% guaranteed through Stubhub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may...
- 2/29/2024
- by Paolo Ragusa
- Consequence - Music
Sigur Rós have unveiled their new album, ÁTTA, which is digitally today. A physical release will follow on September 1st.
ÁTTA marks the Icelandic group’s first album in nearly a decade, as well as their first new music since the return of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson in 2022. Recorded at the band’s Sundlaugin studio in Iceland, the UK’s Abbey Road, and multiple US studios, the LP prominently features the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames and brass from longtime collaborators Brassgat í bala. Paul Corley, another frequent collaborator, mixed and co-produced the album.
In a statement, frontman Jónsi said they approached the album “wanting to have minimal drums and for the music to be really sparse, floaty and beautiful. We’re getting older and more cynical so I just wanted to move us so that we felt something!”
Sveinsson added, “We wanted to allow ourselves to be a...
ÁTTA marks the Icelandic group’s first album in nearly a decade, as well as their first new music since the return of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson in 2022. Recorded at the band’s Sundlaugin studio in Iceland, the UK’s Abbey Road, and multiple US studios, the LP prominently features the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames and brass from longtime collaborators Brassgat í bala. Paul Corley, another frequent collaborator, mixed and co-produced the album.
In a statement, frontman Jónsi said they approached the album “wanting to have minimal drums and for the music to be really sparse, floaty and beautiful. We’re getting older and more cynical so I just wanted to move us so that we felt something!”
Sveinsson added, “We wanted to allow ourselves to be a...
- 6/16/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
Sigur Rós will rise from their slumber (at least as far as studio recordings go) this week to release Átta, their first LP since 2013’s Kveikur. The group previewed the record earlier this week with the release of the song, “Blóðberg.” The surprise release, announced only one day in advance, will be available digitally on Friday and physically on Sept. 1.
Frontman Jónsi said in a statement that Sigur Rós’ goal with the album was for it to sound “really sparse, floaty, and beautiful.” “We’re getting older and more cynical,...
Frontman Jónsi said in a statement that Sigur Rós’ goal with the album was for it to sound “really sparse, floaty, and beautiful.” “We’re getting older and more cynical,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Iceland’s art-rock heroes Sigur Rós are back with a new song, “Blóðberg,” which marks their first since reuniting with multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson.
The sprawling orchestral piece was crafted with the London Contemporary Orchestra and conductor Robert Ames, with Paul Corley co-producing “Blóðberg” with Sigur Rós. “Blóðberg” also arrives with a music video directed by Johan Renck that pairs the unsettling, ethereal aura of the song with an eerie visual that appears to show piles of bodies strewn across an endless desert.
“I feel as nihilistic as one could regarding the future,...
The sprawling orchestral piece was crafted with the London Contemporary Orchestra and conductor Robert Ames, with Paul Corley co-producing “Blóðberg” with Sigur Rós. “Blóðberg” also arrives with a music video directed by Johan Renck that pairs the unsettling, ethereal aura of the song with an eerie visual that appears to show piles of bodies strewn across an endless desert.
“I feel as nihilistic as one could regarding the future,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Sigur Rós have unveiled “Blóðberg,” the Icelandic group’s first new, original song in nearly a decade. It also marks the band’s first recording since the return of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson in 2022.
The seven-minute production takes its time to assemble as mournful strings build to lush, rippling orchestral sweeps, while frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s divine vocals ascend to the most heart-wrenching of high registers. The staggering weight of the new single is matched in kind by its devastating music video, directed by Johan Renck. Watch it below.
“I feel as nihilistic as one could regarding the future,” Renck shared in a statement. “We are powerless against our own stupidities. Some aspects of this came to merge with my impressions of the themes of ‘Blóðberg.’ The music becoming a score to my own miserable thoughts, giving them beauty as only music can.”
Meanwhile, bassist Georg Hólm reflected on Sveinsson rejoining...
The seven-minute production takes its time to assemble as mournful strings build to lush, rippling orchestral sweeps, while frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s divine vocals ascend to the most heart-wrenching of high registers. The staggering weight of the new single is matched in kind by its devastating music video, directed by Johan Renck. Watch it below.
“I feel as nihilistic as one could regarding the future,” Renck shared in a statement. “We are powerless against our own stupidities. Some aspects of this came to merge with my impressions of the themes of ‘Blóðberg.’ The music becoming a score to my own miserable thoughts, giving them beauty as only music can.”
Meanwhile, bassist Georg Hólm reflected on Sveinsson rejoining...
- 6/12/2023
- by Bryan Kress
- Consequence - Music
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Fresh off their first North American tour in five years, Icelandic art-rockers Sigur Ros will return stateside this August for eight shows accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra.
Sigur Ros and the Wordless Music Orchestra’s trek will feature songs off the band’s upcoming studio album — their first proper LP since 2013’s Kveikur and their first with returning member Kjartan Sveinsson since 2012’s Valtari — as well as select...
Fresh off their first North American tour in five years, Icelandic art-rockers Sigur Ros will return stateside this August for eight shows accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra.
Sigur Ros and the Wordless Music Orchestra’s trek will feature songs off the band’s upcoming studio album — their first proper LP since 2013’s Kveikur and their first with returning member Kjartan Sveinsson since 2012’s Valtari — as well as select...
- 3/16/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Sigur Rós will hit the road this summer for their first world tour in nearly five years, with shows currently slated for the United States, Canada and Mexico. The influential Icelandic band also announced that they’ve returned to the studio to record a new full-length album — and both the album and tour will feature the Kjartan Sveinsson, who recently rejoined Sigur Rós after leaving the group nearly a decade ago.
The post-rock outfit promises to debut some new material during the upcoming tour, which kicks off April 30 at Festival Vaivén in Morelos,...
The post-rock outfit promises to debut some new material during the upcoming tour, which kicks off April 30 at Festival Vaivén in Morelos,...
- 2/22/2022
- by Kat Bouza
- Rollingstone.com
Sigur Rós have released a new song, “Stendur æva,” from their upcoming orchestral album, Odin’s Raven Magic, which was made with fellow Icelandic artists Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, and Steindór Andersen.
“Stendur æva” (which translates to “stands alive”) is a sprawling cut that opens with a section centered around a hypnotic loop played on a unique five-octave marimba built from roughly hewn pieces of stone. Andersen guides the song through this first section before the song gives way to a glitchy breakdown that ushers in a...
“Stendur æva” (which translates to “stands alive”) is a sprawling cut that opens with a section centered around a hypnotic loop played on a unique five-octave marimba built from roughly hewn pieces of stone. Andersen guides the song through this first section before the song gives way to a glitchy breakdown that ushers in a...
- 11/13/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Sigur Rós have announced the release of their orchestral album, Odin’s Raven Magic. The 70-minute piece is a collaboration with fellow Icelandic artists Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Steindór Andersen. Featuring Schola Cantorum of Reykjavík and L’Orchestre des Laureats du Conservatoire National de Paris, it arrives on December 4th on Krunk via Warner Classics and is available for preorder.
In conjunction with the album announcement, the band previewed Odin’s Raven Magic with lead single “Dvergmál.” Featuring choral arrangements helmed by former Sigur Rós member and arranger Kjartan Sveinsson...
In conjunction with the album announcement, the band previewed Odin’s Raven Magic with lead single “Dvergmál.” Featuring choral arrangements helmed by former Sigur Rós member and arranger Kjartan Sveinsson...
- 10/23/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “Atlantis,” a dystopian film set in war-torn Ukraine, won the Crystal Arrow Award of the 11th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival.
The film, which won the top prize at Venice’s Horizons section this year, takes place in 2025 in Eastern Ukraine after a ten-year war against Russia which has left the country in ruins. “Atlantis” follows two war veterans, Sergiy (Andriy Rymaruk) and a mate, who are both affected by the war and are living in an abandoned building.
Presided over by the French filmmaker Guillaume Nicloux, the jury was comprised of Santiago Amigorena, the Colombian screenwriter, producer and author, Mélanie De Biasio, the Belgian musician, Nina Hoss, the German actor, Atiq Rahimi, the Afghan director, and Antoine Reinartz, the French actor.
Besides the Cystal Arrow prize, five other kudos were handed out at les Arcs, including the Grand Jury Prize which went to Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks,...
The film, which won the top prize at Venice’s Horizons section this year, takes place in 2025 in Eastern Ukraine after a ten-year war against Russia which has left the country in ruins. “Atlantis” follows two war veterans, Sergiy (Andriy Rymaruk) and a mate, who are both affected by the war and are living in an abandoned building.
Presided over by the French filmmaker Guillaume Nicloux, the jury was comprised of Santiago Amigorena, the Colombian screenwriter, producer and author, Mélanie De Biasio, the Belgian musician, Nina Hoss, the German actor, Atiq Rahimi, the Afghan director, and Antoine Reinartz, the French actor.
Besides the Cystal Arrow prize, five other kudos were handed out at les Arcs, including the Grand Jury Prize which went to Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks,...
- 12/21/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
There are numerous magical moments in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s moving mosaic “Echo,” though perhaps none more powerful than that instant when we as viewers allow ourselves to jettison expectations of narration and let the director’s composite vision bury itself snugly deep within. It might take a bit of time to reach that point — there are 56 scenes, theoretically unconnected, and for a while we wait for some character to return, some bridge to be revealed. Instead, the film is a patchwork of stories set during the Christmas holidays, and as Rúnarsson says, society itself is the protagonist. Once a sense of rhythm is grasped, things fall into place, and audiences will exit the cinema debating their favorite scenes, recalling a wealth of graceful, humane interactions.
Marketing “Echo” outside the fest circuit will be a tricky task, but worth the effort if handled well. That means ensuring viewers understand the film...
Marketing “Echo” outside the fest circuit will be a tricky task, but worth the effort if handled well. That means ensuring viewers understand the film...
- 8/12/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Sigur Rós is commemorating the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album, 1999’s sublime Ágætis byrjun (A Good Beginning), with a massive reissue. The reissues will come in multiple formats – as a 7-lp limited edition deluxe box set and in 4-cd and double vinyl versions – on June 21st via Krunk Records and are available for pre-order via Sigur Rós’ website.
Demos, early song versions and live recordings comprise six sides of the vinyl box set. The band dove into its personal archive for the source material, surfacing long-ago forgotten recordings. Guided...
Demos, early song versions and live recordings comprise six sides of the vinyl box set. The band dove into its personal archive for the source material, surfacing long-ago forgotten recordings. Guided...
- 3/28/2019
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Iceland’s Gunnar Jonsson gets a special mention; Jerzy Skolimowski [pictured] is honoured as Motovun Maverick.
The 18thedition of Croatia’s Motovun Film Festival ended on July 29 with the main award, Propeller of Motovun, going to the French-Belgian film The Wakhan Front directed by Clément Cogitore.
The psychological thriller, which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, is about a French captain assigned on a control and surveillance mission in a remote valley on the Afghan-Pakistan border, whose troops start mysteriously disappearing.
The jury said it was “a war film that avoids all stereotypes about war. Instead, it speaks with magical and original cinematic language, telling a story of the soldiers of a French unit in Afghanistan, far from their families. A film about faith, beliefs and searching for truth while questioning what is right and what is wrong.”
A special mention went to Icelandic actor Gunnar Jónsson for his role in Dagur Kari’s Virgin Mountain, with the jury...
The 18thedition of Croatia’s Motovun Film Festival ended on July 29 with the main award, Propeller of Motovun, going to the French-Belgian film The Wakhan Front directed by Clément Cogitore.
The psychological thriller, which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, is about a French captain assigned on a control and surveillance mission in a remote valley on the Afghan-Pakistan border, whose troops start mysteriously disappearing.
The jury said it was “a war film that avoids all stereotypes about war. Instead, it speaks with magical and original cinematic language, telling a story of the soldiers of a French unit in Afghanistan, far from their families. A film about faith, beliefs and searching for truth while questioning what is right and what is wrong.”
A special mention went to Icelandic actor Gunnar Jónsson for his role in Dagur Kari’s Virgin Mountain, with the jury...
- 8/3/2015
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The juries for the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4-12) handed out prizes in four competition categories Saturday night at the Hotel Thermal at a ceremony punctuated by slippery girls in black bikinis sliding across a watery stage. "Karlovy Vary is the face of this country," president of the competition Jury Luis Miñarro told the crowd before a screening of the hilarious dark Argentinian comedy "Wild Tales." The grand jury for the official competition (Miñarro, Spain, Mira Fornay, Slovakia, Phedon Papamichael, Greece, Kjartan Sveinsson, Iceland and Viktor Tauš, Czech Republic) awarded the $25,000 Grand Prix Crystal Globe for the producer and director to "Corn Island" ("Simindis kundzuli"), directed by George Ovashvili and financed by Georgia, Germany, France, Czech Republic and Kazakhstan. A special jury prize of $15,000 went to the director and producer of...
- 7/12/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sigur Ros’ new album “Kveikur,” track-wise, is the Icelandic band’s second-shortest set. It’s also among their most focused, a turn from the surreal restraint of last “Valtari” and their first in 15 years without arranger/keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. That personnel reduction has the post-rock trio shifting into what you could call and offensive rather than defensive sound. Guitars are more pointed and the tempos are ballsier, like on moody and melodic first track “Brenninstein,” which shares its clanking call-to-arms with aggressive rhythmic objects with follow-up “Hrafntinna.” The vocals on “Stormur” sound like a wild animal call, breaking up its chugging...
- 6/27/2013
- Hitfix
Sigur Rós graced Reddit with its awkward presence Thursday, discussing and answering questions about its seventh and latest LP (which has yet to be named). A preview of the band's dark new material is available below. The band is also prepping for a world tour that will begin on Feb. 13—a tour it will complete as a trio, seeing as keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson left the group because he'd "spent half his life in the band and it was time to do something different." Feb. 13—Coliseum—Porto, Portugal Feb. 14—Campo Pequeno—Lisbon, Portugal Feb. 16 ...
- 1/24/2013
- avclub.com
Ramin Bahrani, the New York-based auteur responsible for such indie darlings as “Chop Shop” (2007) and “Goodbye Solo” (2008) shot a curious little short in 2009 called “Plastic Bag.” It follows a plastic shopping bag, voiced by Moving Arts favorite Werner Herzog, on an existential journey. Let me say that again: Werner Herzog plays a plastic bag in search of the meaning of life. Enjoy!
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Werner Herzog (voice)
Original Score: Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós
Running Time: 18 minutes
Studio: Noruz Films and Gigantic Pictures...
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Werner Herzog (voice)
Original Score: Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós
Running Time: 18 minutes
Studio: Noruz Films and Gigantic Pictures...
- 9/30/2012
- by Eric M. Armstrong
- The Moving Arts Journal
On the heels of Alma Har’el’s wonderful video for Sigur Ros’ “Fjögur Píanó” (which may be the best thing Shia Labeouf has ever done) comes another entry from an American independent filmmaker in the Icelandic band’s Mystery Film Experiment. After Sigur Ros’ keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson did the music for Ramin Bahrani’s 2009 short Plastic Bag, the band chose the Man Push Cart director to make a video for ‘Ég Anda,” the fifth entry in the Mystery Film Experiment. Valtari, the group’s new album, is much more understated and less grand in scope than their previous records, and so the videos that have arisen from it are notably different from, say, the dazzlingly cinematic “Glósóli”. As far as I know, this is Bahrani’s first pop promo, and I think it’s unusual and quietly powerful.
Sigur Rós – Ég anda from Sigur Rós Valtari Mystery Films on Vimeo.
Sigur Rós – Ég anda from Sigur Rós Valtari Mystery Films on Vimeo.
- 7/17/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sigur Rós's second concert film opens at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles tomorrow and sees a five-day run at Tiff Bell Lightbox in Toronto, also starting starting tomorrow. For more dates throughout the coming weeks, see the site and/or Cinema Purgatorio.
"Directed by [Canadian] Vincent Morisset, this mostly black-and-white, moody exercise in making digital footage from 2008 look like long-lost video from around the time when Ian Curtis was still doing gigs, is radically different from the first Sigur Rós cinema project, 2007's Heima," writes Gustavo Turner in the La Weekly. Inni "is a hazy, shoegazy visual tone that is both elegiac and eulogistic — that is, at once meditative and funereal. At a time when most Us music documentaries have devolved into either artist-endorsed EPKs (see Scorsese's Dylan and George Harrison docs) or predictable Behind the Music – style fables of redemption, it's refreshing to see state-sponsored artists from welfare...
"Directed by [Canadian] Vincent Morisset, this mostly black-and-white, moody exercise in making digital footage from 2008 look like long-lost video from around the time when Ian Curtis was still doing gigs, is radically different from the first Sigur Rós cinema project, 2007's Heima," writes Gustavo Turner in the La Weekly. Inni "is a hazy, shoegazy visual tone that is both elegiac and eulogistic — that is, at once meditative and funereal. At a time when most Us music documentaries have devolved into either artist-endorsed EPKs (see Scorsese's Dylan and George Harrison docs) or predictable Behind the Music – style fables of redemption, it's refreshing to see state-sponsored artists from welfare...
- 10/30/2011
- MUBI
If you go into Inni thinking you’ll receive Heima Part 2, you either be sadly disappointed or extremely grateful because it is anything but. Rather than show us Sigur Rós’ atmospherically sumptuous music against the gorgeous expanse of their Icelandic homeland, director Vincent Moriset captures the bombastic energy of one performance in a monochrome, scratchy gray. Shot with intimate compositions of abstract shapes and completely unbalanced framing, we experience the assault of being at the concert hall. Through a show from November 2008 at Alexandra Palace in London, we are transported to a world of raw, unbridled aural chaos—the beauty and awesomeness of the band let loose to travel freely beyond the stage.
Whereas their first documentary infused a lot of interview footage with the artistically controlled performances, Morisset has decided to pair his stripped down visuals with a limited archive displaying the world’s ignorance of their origins. With...
Whereas their first documentary infused a lot of interview footage with the artistically controlled performances, Morisset has decided to pair his stripped down visuals with a limited archive displaying the world’s ignorance of their origins. With...
- 10/8/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
At a time when motion pictures seem more often is used as a synonym for spectacular, the films of Ramin Bahrani remind us that cinema is not all about imagining new ones, but film-making is used also as a means of exploring reality around us. Bahrani’s clear-eyed realism is perceived as a strong emotionalism that extends from his narrative form and his excellent working relationship with his actors. Now, Bahrani has scribed the script with Hallie Elizabeth Newton and will helm yet untitled film which London-based international sales and production company Bankside Films was buying in Cannes.
Lesser known actress Maika Monroe has landed the female lead next to Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and Red West.
Picture follows the story of a farmer whose manic expansion alienates his sons and devoted wife. In fact, farmer’s manic expansion and involvement in the genetic foods debate alienates his family.
Quaid...
Lesser known actress Maika Monroe has landed the female lead next to Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron and Red West.
Picture follows the story of a farmer whose manic expansion alienates his sons and devoted wife. In fact, farmer’s manic expansion and involvement in the genetic foods debate alienates his family.
Quaid...
- 7/12/2011
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
The Hot Blog: David Poland claims that “True Grit,” the Coen brothers Western, “has muscled its way into the frontrunner slot to win best picture” as a result of its solid box-office performance over the long Christmas weekend. (It generated $36.1 million, good enough for second place behind “Little Fockers,” which brought in only $9 million more.) Methinks Poland is too smart to actually believe that and is just hoping to generate some late phase one traffic to his site and/or be the one guy who made a crazy pick that somehow came true (as Tom O’Neil attempted last year with “Inglourious Basterds”). Jeff Wells (here) and Sasha Stone (here) seem to concur.
New York Times: Manohla Dargis, Stephen Holden, and A.O. Scott, the newspaper’s three film critics, share their five selections for what/who this year’s Oscar nominees “should be” in this Sunday’s edition. Having obtained an early copy,...
New York Times: Manohla Dargis, Stephen Holden, and A.O. Scott, the newspaper’s three film critics, share their five selections for what/who this year’s Oscar nominees “should be” in this Sunday’s edition. Having obtained an early copy,...
- 12/30/2010
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
According to legend an “ondine” is a water nymph, or spirit, found in forest pools and waterfalls. They have beautiful voices, which are heard over the sound of water. According legend, ondines won.t have a soul unless they wed a human man and bear him a child. Neil Jordan.s new film Ondine is a romantic fairy tale for adults, a mystical tale of a fisherman who finds an unexpectedly sexy catch in his net one day. Ondine is a good film that unfolds slowly with a sense of magic and intrigue, but is marred by a conventional and unsatisfying conclusion. Ondine starts out like your typical mermaid movie. Set in a village off the coast of Ireland, it revolves around a fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell), a recovering boozer whom the locals call Circus because of his buffoonish behavior when drunk. Separated from his wife, Syracuse is devoted to his wheelchair-bound young daughter,...
- 6/25/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ondine
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Cast: Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda, Alison Barry
Running Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 11, 2010
Plot: A fisherman (Farrell) pulls a woman (Bachleda) out of the water who is suspected to be a “selkie,” which is the Scottish version on the mermaid.
Who’S It For?: Mature foreign-filmgoers who don’t mind a little enchantment sprinkled in their cup of reality.
Expectations: Especially with limited release films like this one, I rarely know what it is about until I go in. This is certainly the case with Ondine, which I only knew was a Neil Jordan film starring Colin Farrell.
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Colin Farrell as Syracuse: The actor’s macho outer appearance is unrecognizable in the skin of the dirty and meek fisherman. We are invested in his curiosity as he tries to figure out the true origins of Ondine, and legitimately...
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Cast: Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda, Alison Barry
Running Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 11, 2010
Plot: A fisherman (Farrell) pulls a woman (Bachleda) out of the water who is suspected to be a “selkie,” which is the Scottish version on the mermaid.
Who’S It For?: Mature foreign-filmgoers who don’t mind a little enchantment sprinkled in their cup of reality.
Expectations: Especially with limited release films like this one, I rarely know what it is about until I go in. This is certainly the case with Ondine, which I only knew was a Neil Jordan film starring Colin Farrell.
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Colin Farrell as Syracuse: The actor’s macho outer appearance is unrecognizable in the skin of the dirty and meek fisherman. We are invested in his curiosity as he tries to figure out the true origins of Ondine, and legitimately...
- 6/11/2010
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Any cryptozoology fans expecting Ondine to be an Irish indie version of Splash, be forewarned: you won't find any tail in this picture. Well, not of the mer-person kind.
Instead, director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Brave One) serves up a simple family drama centered around a fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell) who nets a beautiful woman who may or may not be a legendary selkie (a mermaid/seal/hot woman combo). Syracuse rescues the woman (who insists she remains hidden and referred to as "Ondine") and nurtures her back to health, all while trying to care for his handicapped daughter, his slow fishing business and his alcoholic ex-wife. Oh, and the girl may or may not be a magical creature of the sea. It's a family drama...with a mythological twist!
Unfortunately, Ondine never escapes its recognizable story - will Syrcause find a kidney for his daughter? Can he escape his alcoholic past?...
Instead, director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Brave One) serves up a simple family drama centered around a fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell) who nets a beautiful woman who may or may not be a legendary selkie (a mermaid/seal/hot woman combo). Syracuse rescues the woman (who insists she remains hidden and referred to as "Ondine") and nurtures her back to health, all while trying to care for his handicapped daughter, his slow fishing business and his alcoholic ex-wife. Oh, and the girl may or may not be a magical creature of the sea. It's a family drama...with a mythological twist!
Unfortunately, Ondine never escapes its recognizable story - will Syrcause find a kidney for his daughter? Can he escape his alcoholic past?...
- 4/25/2010
- UGO Movies
Going into SXSW, I knew there were going to be a lot of short films screened, and there were several that I had highlighted as must-see’s. I was immediately drawn to Tze Chun’s name, as his film Children of Invention has been on my radar since last year’s Iff Boston. Children of Invention was also among the films chosen to test out YouTube’s new rental service, around Sundance this past January. When I saw that he was going to be directing a sci-fi short film, I knew it would be something worth making myself available to. I didn’t read too much up on the other films in the Futurestates series, apart from the basic synopses that it was a series of short films, centered around the idea of taking current social and environmental problems, and extending them forward in time. Who knew that this screening...
- 3/25/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
My first thought was that this is a joke. I received an email linking me to a YouTube video called "Plastic Bay By Ramin Bahrani," and in the email I was told that it stars filmmaker Werner Herzog. Certainly it'd be a kind of mixed parody of the hated scene from American Beauty and the minimal realist films of Bahrani, and feature yet another faked Herzogian German accent. But wait, why would anyone lampoon that "most beautiful" plastic bag scene again after more than a decade? And who would think anyone would get a spoof of Bahrani, particularly by name?
The video was real. Is real. I mean ... it's a real short film by Bahrani featuring Herzog narrating the existential thoughts of a plastic bag throughout its life, from supermarket birth to ... well, I'll let you see where the adventure takes him. Oh, and another bonus: there's a score by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros.
The video was real. Is real. I mean ... it's a real short film by Bahrani featuring Herzog narrating the existential thoughts of a plastic bag throughout its life, from supermarket birth to ... well, I'll let you see where the adventure takes him. Oh, and another bonus: there's a score by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros.
- 3/24/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Plastic Bag is a new 18 minute short film written, directed and edited by Ramin Bahrani and narrated by Werner Herzog. It is released as part of FutureStates, a series of digital shorts that aim to show visions of the American Society in the not-too-distant future. Plastic Bag was recently shown at the SXSW festival and is also available online.
Although the idea of a short film about a plastic bag brought to mind this infamous scene from American Beauty, I can assure you that this short film has so much more to offer. I found the short to be strangely beautiful and affecting and appreciated the message at it’s core. Getting Werner Herzog to narrate the short was a wonderful choice. The voiceovers Herzog supplies for his documentaries, such as Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, are an integral part of why they work so well and are often beautiful,...
Although the idea of a short film about a plastic bag brought to mind this infamous scene from American Beauty, I can assure you that this short film has so much more to offer. I found the short to be strangely beautiful and affecting and appreciated the message at it’s core. Getting Werner Herzog to narrate the short was a wonderful choice. The voiceovers Herzog supplies for his documentaries, such as Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World, are an integral part of why they work so well and are often beautiful,...
- 3/16/2010
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
I caught Neil Jordan's Ondine at the Toronto Int.Film Festival last September, and the first after-thought I had was, this'll be a tough sell. Not that the fabric of the film is off-putting -- you have your male lead in Colin Farrell, that I think people are generally interested in watching, but then you have a Sigur Ros singing mermaid, a divorced parent subplot with a spirited child years beyond her age stuck in a wheel chair (there is a resemblance to Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo) and you have antagonistic forces in the presence of a pair of thugs plotting their presence in a picturesque village that awkwardly don't measure up. - I caught Neil Jordan's Ondine at the Toronto Int.Film Festival last September, and the first after-thought I had was, this'll be a tough sell. Not that the fabric of the film is off-putting --...
- 1/15/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Mother and Child
Opens: 2010
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Rodrigo Garcia
Summary: A tale of a mother and daughter, separated at birth, who struggle with the damage done by the most important person missing in their lives while a young African-Americn woman deals with an unwanted pregnancy and the adoption process.
Analysis: Scoring rave reviews in Toronto, the $7 million latest effort of Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives," "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her") once again shows off his skill at weaving multiple narratives together in clever and unexpected ways. At its heart it's an emotional family drama, but Garcia excels with his female characters which makes the involvement of Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and especially Annette Benning thrilling.
The few criticisms levelled at the film were toward some pacing and credibility issues in the last act, but otherwise praised it for not...
Opens: 2010
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Rodrigo Garcia
Summary: A tale of a mother and daughter, separated at birth, who struggle with the damage done by the most important person missing in their lives while a young African-Americn woman deals with an unwanted pregnancy and the adoption process.
Analysis: Scoring rave reviews in Toronto, the $7 million latest effort of Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives," "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her") once again shows off his skill at weaving multiple narratives together in clever and unexpected ways. At its heart it's an emotional family drama, but Garcia excels with his female characters which makes the involvement of Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and especially Annette Benning thrilling.
The few criticisms levelled at the film were toward some pacing and credibility issues in the last act, but otherwise praised it for not...
- 12/29/2009
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Mother and Child
Opens: 2010
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Rodrigo Garcia
Summary: A tale of a mother and daughter, separated at birth, who struggle with the damage done by the most important person missing in their lives while a young African-Americn woman deals with an unwanted pregnancy and the adoption process.
Analysis: Scoring rave reviews in Toronto, the $7 million latest effort of Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives," "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her") once again shows off his skill at weaving multiple narratives together in clever and unexpected ways. At its heart it's an emotional family drama, but Garcia excels with his female characters which makes the involvement of Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and especially Annette Benning thrilling.
The few criticisms levelled at the film were toward some pacing and credibility issues in the last act, but otherwise praised it for not...
Opens: 2010
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington
Director: Rodrigo Garcia
Summary: A tale of a mother and daughter, separated at birth, who struggle with the damage done by the most important person missing in their lives while a young African-Americn woman deals with an unwanted pregnancy and the adoption process.
Analysis: Scoring rave reviews in Toronto, the $7 million latest effort of Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives," "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her") once again shows off his skill at weaving multiple narratives together in clever and unexpected ways. At its heart it's an emotional family drama, but Garcia excels with his female characters which makes the involvement of Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and especially Annette Benning thrilling.
The few criticisms levelled at the film were toward some pacing and credibility issues in the last act, but otherwise praised it for not...
- 12/29/2009
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
I can't quite wrap my head around Neil Jordan's latest offering - clearly a fairy tale for adults that could easily play well for children, Ondine sounds good (Sigur Ros) and looks good (Christopher Doyle), but I didn't much care for the end result. - I can't quite wrap my head around Neil Jordan's latest offering - clearly a fairy tale for adults that could easily play well for children, Ondine sounds good (Sigur Ros) and looks good (Christopher Doyle), but I didn't much care for the end result. Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo did way more for me if we are going the direction. Full review coming soon.
- 11/30/2009
- by Ioncinema.com Staff
- IONCINEMA.com
- Currently in the fine-tuning the script and financing stages of his Untitled Western period pic, and now in the post Goodbye Solo phase (the theatrical run is in it's final weeks/month with the DVD release coming out this August 25th), Ramin Bahrani will be making a trip out the Venice Film Festival for two reasons: he is one of three members on the international jury for first works, and second, he'll be presenting a short film entitled, Plastic Bag which will premiere as the opening night film of Corto Cortissimo (the short film section). For those lucky enough to be in the city of canals and rubber boots, you might want to circle the date and time of the 7th of September at 17:00 at Sala Perla. The eighteen minute short takes place in a not too distant future, where a Plastic Bag goes on an epic journey
- 8/16/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
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