Heima Review
It was a damp, cold night and rain was falling all over the icy, snowy streets of Boston. Each step was a testament to the strength of your leg muscles and the quality of your shoes. We slip slided our way in to the Kendell Sq. Theatre and prepared ourselves for a screening of Sigur Ros’s homage to home, Heima.
According to Sigur Ros, the weather last night was just right. In one scene, they’re playing for a relatively large village (in Iceland terms) that was tucked away between a mountain range and located on the edge of a river bank. From the looks of their wool sweaters and caps, the weather seemed damp as well and the fog was rolling in. They were playing outside to their fellow Icelanders and this my friends, was in their eyes, perfect conditions.
Put aside the music for a second, the imagery in this film was above and beyond one of the more stunning movie experiences I’ve been to in awhile. Now add in the ever so dramatic music by Sigur Ros and the combination becomes overwhelming.
If you’re not familiar with this recent release, the scenes were all shot during the summer of 2006 right after their world tour supporting the excellent release of Takk. It was a spontaneous decision to announce a few local shows around the countryside. The announcements were not made outside of Iceland on purpose. They wanted this to be a tribute to their home country and didn’t want to have the outside world come crashing in on the intimate tour. Slowly the spontaneous idea turned in to a once in a lifetime experience caught on film.
If I were to sum up the movie in one word it would have to be “innocence”. From the hundreds of tiny baby shots to the close ups of grandma watching them play, this movie was stooped in innocence. And topping it off were the band members themselves. Here goes my attempt at their Icelandic spelling – Georg “Goggi” Holm, Kjartan “Kjarri” Sveinsson, Orri Pall Dyrason and Jon Por “Jonsi” Birgisso. Jonsi is the timid lead singer you hear belting out the mostly Icelandic, some English and a lot of hopelandic (the Sigur Ros made up languag) on their albums. At times it sounds like whales screaming his pitch is so high. But something we learn about the band in this film is their humorous approach to humanity.
This is especially apparent with Jonsi. His attention to detail why trying to explain his thoughts bring both a smile to your face and a sense of commonality on his outlook on life. A perfect example is how he describes the crowds that show up to their random concerts peformed throughout all the villages and towns in Iceland. He describes how it’s apparent that some are showing up just because it’s a happening and not really for the music. And for Jonsi, this is just as amazing as if they were all coming together to just hear them play. He chuckles and giggles in his boyish way and gives off a crazy vibe but really, he’s just crazy
The movie is currently out on DVD but it has been traveling the theatre circuit here in the United States and elsewhere for a couple months now. I’m very happy I opened up my Myspace account for the first time in who knows how long to see the latest Sigur Ros post on my account – “updated screenings”.
There are only two more screenings in the states that I know of and they are going on tonight in Austin, TX at Dobie Theatre and Seattle, WA at Metro Cinemas.
Download: “Untitled 8″ (On the 2002 album ( ))
Download: “Olsen Olsen” (On the 1999 album agaetis byrjun)
Learn more about Heima from the official website – HERE
Purchase the Heima DVD (perfect Christmas gift for the music and art lover in your family) – Amazon (US) (UK) (Canada)
Visit the official Sigur Ros website and pick up more MP3’s – HERE
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About Editor
Name: Luke "Kip" Owen
Location: Boston, MA
Contact: kippy[AT]hip2besquare[DOT]net
Twitter: twitter.com/kipdog
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Santa put the DVD under my tree this year..its a stunner..i love it on so many levels.