Jar City

The Sundance Channel recently showed an Icelandic movie, ‘Jar City,’ based on a detective story by Arnaldur Indridason, a writer whose works have recently been translated into English and who is worth looking into if you like mystery, detective stories.

The fact that a sheep’s head can be someone’s "usual” and that it is blithely obtained at a drive-through window of what must be an Icelandic fast food joint certainly alerts you that you’re in a different land. Maybe planet. Yes, that sub-title did say "sheep's head."

I'm not usually much of one for the Sundance Channel. I don't walk around indoors wearing a scarf and hat, and even when I neglect a haircut, I've never been mistaken for being 'artsy.' But the thumbnail review a week or so ago, along with a bleak black and white picture, attracted me to the listing. I've also read one of Mr. Indridason's books, and liked it.

There was also an outtake from the NYT review: "Jar city is vivid and powerful but not something the country’s tourist board would be likely to endorse." The movie also makes you wonder what Icelanders feature in their version of Bon Apetit, or whip up on a cooking show.

A blurb on Iceland somewhat warns you about their cuisine when they describe it is as not being famous for its delicacies, considering the main purpose of traditional food preparation was to preserve it. They seem proud of the fact that you can keep some of their dishes for months behind a radiator or under your bed and they would still be safe to eat, although for some reason this is not recommended.

The detective, Erlendur, is fairly typical of fictional, and likely real detectives. He's a loner, with family problems, who ignores his health and seems to wear the same sweater throughout. He does live in a fairly nice looking high rise, that is decently furnished and actually looks clean. So when he brings dinner home and opens the fast food container and we're presented with what a sheep's head meal looks like, you do get more repulsed than by anything you've seen so far.

But it's how our hero eats the meal that attracts the real attention. In this nicely furnished apartment that looks well equipped with what we'd likely find in our own homes, Erlendur reaches in his pocket for a pocket knife, opens it up, and saws away a bit at the food and eats it off the knife blade. Up to now, we've been conceding things to culture. But right now, this guy can't even get up and use a knife and fork, and apparently they forgot to put plastic ones in the bag. Maybe all his are in the dishwasher, and that's where the mess is. Apparently the case files he's looking at preclude him from getting up.

It is a good movie, even given the fact you have to follow with English sub-titles. And despite a few of the characters who look alike, you can ultimately follow the plot and either figure it out, or wait until it's all revealed.

Even given there are scenes of violently murdered people, corpses being exhumed, shelves of preserved organs, skeletons and reactions to smelly gas from unearthed crypts, nothing sticks in your mind more than that sheep's head.

And it didn't come with fries, either.

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