Watch Life in a Fishbowl For Free

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Icelandic writer-director Baldvin Zophoníasson's 2nd feature film is dark but great. The screenplay, co-written with psychologist Birgir Örn Steinarsson, is strong and nuanced. The acting from Hilmar, Bachmann and Kristjansson is solid.

Saw this at Noordelijk film festival 2015 in Leeuwarden (NL). Long winded way of storytelling, without enough substance and devoid of interesting protagonists, taking more than two hours running time. Starting as independent parallel plot lines, we see gradually more and more of the main character's lives intertwined, but it takes time to get hold of the big picture. Alas, it is all interesting enough to make an effort to piece it together.The superficial viewer should look past the embedded morale that men always get away with their wrongdoings and that women always suffer. There is one instance (only one!) where we see hard work and honesty rewarded (the fresh banker) while his colleague (always talking about team playing) changes his report (luckily, the boss found out). Nearly at the same time he threatens the school teacher not to reveal anything about their encounter in "Florida", he also tells his wife that nothing happened and that she has to trust him. So his morale is dubious at least, though it may be due to panic. The other instance of rewarding good behavior is when the writer/poet who accidentally winds up as a rich man, shares some of his wealth with the part time call girl, but we have to overlook that his way of babysitting is irresponsible because of his drinking habits.All in all, no saints and no angels in this movie, only real people with all kinds of faults combined with good features. Yet, none of these are unusual or worth devoting a movie about it, so I get stuck with a feeling of disappointment after sitting out more than two hours. It was not boring, just useless and unrewarding. Technically nothing wrong, well shot, and casting/acting was believable. Apparently I'm at fault, as nearly 1000 IMDb users awarded a 7.5 score on average.

This movie, released in the English speaking world as The Life In A Fishbowl (the original Icelandic title just refers to the street name where all main characters live), was a huge success in Iceland, showered with praise and awards.However I was deeply disappointed by what I saw. The movie is supposed to be some sort of a puzzle with many plot lines and characters coming together to give us a portrait of the modern Iceland. But it just does not work. The pieces do not fit. Everything is falling apart. First of all, there is a story about Eik a single mother who works at nursery school and moonlights as prostitute. Why is she doing it? Does she want to quit? No answer. Yes, she has a dark secret. By the end of the movie it is revealed that at the age of 6 she was molested by her own grandfather. What on earth does it add to the story? Nothing. This tragic accident does not seem to have affected her life in any way. She is very pleased with her life. She is happy she gets paid for having sex with ugly old men. So, why should we care? Then there is Mori. He is a washed down writer. His daughter died in a drowning accident many years ago. Presently he roams the streets and drinks vodka. At least this guy can evoke some sort of sympathy from the audience. But in the end he sells his big house, gets lots of money and leaves cold Iceland for warm Italy to start a new life. So, why should we care after all? And there is Solvi. He is a businessman who tries to buy a large patch of land to build a hotel. His story is in the movie just for no reason except for we can get a glimpse at the luxury lifestyle some Icelanders enjoy (mansions, big cars, yachts). So, why should we care? All in all The Life In A Fishbowl looks like one of those over clichéd, standard art house dramas you can find in dozens at any European Film Festival.

Vonarstræti is a great film.It tells the stories of ordinary people in Iceland during the - I think - buildup of the country's financial crisis in 2008.Many things separate Vonarstræti from similar films; but above all is perhaps Baldvin Zophoníasson's ability to avoid revealing too much; he never underestimates his audience.And the stories are simple. The storytelling is simple. The dialogue is real, the performances heartfelt. Hera Hilmar is particularly great, so is the dynamic between her character Eik and Móri, the plagued, yet peaking writer.Adding to this is the fact that nothing we see on screen is unnecessary to the development of the story. The story is also constantly developing in its own way.The cinematography is simple and "just there". Nothing fancy here - just like the stories. This simplicity is not just great for realism, it is almost a prerequisite.On the other hand, it can be argued that the film has its flaws. They include over dramatization of certain scenes, and a potentially bad plot choice (potentially because it's subjective - you be the judge). But even this never goes overboard.Vonarstræti is overall a great piece of Icelandic social realism. One star deducted for minor flaws, considering that the 10/10 should be reserved for very special cases.9/10