In a tiny village located in the remote West Fjords of Iceland, Noi lives a strangely quiet life with his grandmother. A 17-year-old afflicted by the typical symptoms of teenage angst, who longs for freedom and independence, Noi makes for an excellent character study. His existence is anything but typical given the challenges that the Icelandic climate presents. Noi must shovel the snow away from the front door of his house in order to even open the door and get out in the morning, and he passes his free time firing a rifle at the mighty ice cycles that hang threateningly from the local hills. When he's not calming his alcoholic father after fits of rage, Noi hangs out at the gas station where the beautiful daughter of the local bookshop owner works. The surprising ending, which puts a very different perspective on this otherwise basic tale of Icelandic adolescence, brings a pensive fatalism to NOI.
Director-writer Dagur Kari masterfully directs the small cast of unique characters in this well-paced film, while the numbing photography of perpetual ice and snow, and a superb soundtrack of acoustic music by Slowblow give the film its reflective, somber mood.
