Children of Nature (1991) User Reviews

Old crotchety couple elude authorities in Iceland

[filfy-2 · 8/10 · 10 May 2000]

"Children of Nature" is the first Icelandic film I have ever seen and I was pleasantly surprised. It concerns two former childhood sweethearts (Thorgeir & Stella) who meet in an old age home, escape, and return to their remote hometown.

This film is a nice antidote to most Hollywood movies: the stars are nasty old people, the pace of the film is slow, and there are elements of magical realism. It also doesn't hurt that the cinematography is excellent and shows off Iceland beautifully.

After seeing this film, I get the impression that Iceland is a weird and wonderful place and I hope to visit soon!

P.S. If you liked "Wings of Desire" you'll appreciate the cameo by the angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz).

Endearing questing tale

[storybandit · 8/10 · 21 January 2002]

This movie begins with Geirri leaving the family farm and moving in with his family. He's gotten to old to handle farming on his own, and his family has decided that they are more suited to life in the city. The attempt to merge into his daughter's hectic life doesn't work out and he finds himself in a nursing home, surrounded by fellow retirees - some of whom are loving the time and the freedom the home allows right alongside others who are not.

Geirri meets up with Stella, a childhood sweetheart who has decided that dying in a nursing home is something she does not want to do. So, they decide to leave together. By the dead of night they steal a car and head for the towns of their youth...

Geirri and Stella are running form the law (leaving the home without permission and, more importantly, car theft), but there is no 'Bonnie and Clyde' feeling to this story. They return to the towns they knew and remember the years together. There are spirits in their mind and spirits of the ocean who meet them along the way. You get an excellent sense of their strength, knowledge, and experience.

All in all, this movie is very touching - until the end.

I really appreciated the journey and the experiences Geirri and Stella have, but the plot twist that brings the viewer to a final scene which is (in my opinion) brutal, disturbing, and (to be frank) confusing end. Yes, Geirri running from the law, and yes, he is trying to maintain his freedom, but...the rocks and the feet...?

Confusing and jarring. There was a fascinating mystical feel to the way the movie plays itself out, and one could theorize that the ending was more symbolic than realistic. But, why throw that kind of symbolism onto the end of such a touching (and realistic) movie?

Even so, I highly recommend this movie. There's to much to be gained from the movie as a whole to allow the oddness of the ending to stop you from seeing it.

One of a kind, unforgettable!

[samxxxul · 8/10 · 2 May 2020]

"Children of Nature" is a light-hearted film that pull off an awe-inspiring saga of Thorgeir (Gísli Halldórsson), an elderly farmer and his childhood sweetheart, 79-year-old Stella (Sigridur Hagalín) who meet at a rest home. They steal a jeep and set off on an adventurous journey, back to their roots, back to where they were and are children of nature as the authorities are on the look out to bring them back to the retirement home. Glad the film didn't take the Bertrand Blier's Going Places (1974) approach in the writing. Imagine the public reaction, especially the Church!!

Traditionally, older films have a heavy feel of "over acting" to help get the point across with irritating soundtrack or forced lines to tug the heartstrings but this film was spot on is a fantastic as everything comes together in a beautiful all the way through the powerful final scene as surreal scene featuring Bruno Ganz.

The film touches on the effect of urbanization and the real life that is seized from mother and the relationship between Thorgeir & Stella is shot in an extremely beautiful way. The story, music, cinematography, direction and, I hazard to say, a near perfect performances combine to make for a compelling film. I would recommend to watch this and would make a perfect double bill along with Waking Ned Devine (1998).

A Nice If Not Perfect Picture.

[turkerc · 6/10 · 23 October 2019]

Ok, this is not the film from which you expect win the oscar, but who the hell cares? This is a beautiful film that allows one to enjoy gorgeous scenery of Iceland.

The way the movie is directed or the acting you cannot fault because of it's own limitations. But as the movie moves ahead you realise that this one is more of a mix of a strong sense of nostalgia and a fairy tale. The world they grew old into became a place which did not make much sense to these elderly people. Therefore, they are in a spiritual struggle in which they seek an escape from the urban lifestyle and a return to their natural ones; their villages and the intact countryside of Iceland, where people still stick to the rituals of the past, most things are hand-made but exquisite and there is no shortage of breathtaking colours, mists and the things leave you stunned.

I admit nostalgia is not the most authentic topic; I mean it follows a pretty straightforward and familiar topic where elderly people feel locked in care homes and they must pay a final visit to their origin of life before resting in peace. Meanwhile, the nostalgia has been impressive with the combination of naturalism. I really enjoyed the time that I have invested for this movie.

An excellent beautiful film

[kkkson · 10/10 · 28 May 2006]

A fantastic film. Gísli Halldórsson gives a great performance as always and really gives the movie a lot.

It is a very beautiful film where the main contrast is not on spoken word but on what the eye sees and that is what makes this movie work not only in Iceland but worldwide. There is not word spoken for the first 20 minutes of the films and by then the viewer doesn't really care if the film is in Icelandic or in English or what ever other language.

The movie clearly shows that you don't need to be 20 years old to be in love and how some people are simply children of nature

One of the best films i have seen. 10/10

Give me a break.

[dodge-8 · 30 September 1999]

I´m sorry to say, but this film is one of the worst from Iceland. It has some of the most dumbest plot lines ever filmed, and everyone who has ever heard anything of Iceland knows that old people are not mistreated the way it´s portrayed in this flick. An Oscar nomination...give me a break. It would have been more believable to let Die Hard take place here than this film.

Seizing the day in older age

[evening1 · 7/10 · 16 September 2023]

Love in life's twilight -- based on focus, listening, caring, and support. Hand-holding, not lust or sex.

This understated film captures that special form of connection that may be found in one's waning years, set in a most elemental of environments, Iceland.

Its ending embraces magical consonances of the distant past, and it's enigmatic. Another reviewer helpfully points to the cameo appearance of the recently departed Bruno Ganz, in an echo of his comforting presence in 1987's "Wings of Desire."

Director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson also conjures Kurasawa's "Ikiru" (1956), another elegy to end-of-life meaning, when protagonist Thorgeir (Gisli Halldórsson) takes some time to lean back on a swing.

This is one strong statement in favor of creating meaning for oneself.

Excellent movie

[freejack-2 · 9/10 · 22 November 1998]

I ´ve seen some of the earlier works of Fridrik and with one exception hated them all. He started by insulting the Icelandic nation by doing a horrible (and terribly long film) about one of nation's greatest writers. Then he did a documentary about Iceland and got almost all of through the windscreen of a car, driving too fast. "Rock in Reykjavik" was a pleasant documentary and really fun to watch. But this film puts him among the world's most talented directors and for a small nation, that is a lot of responsibillity. Since he did "Börn Náttúrunnar" he hasn´t done anything to speak of but it´s hard to tell whether he has passed his peak, or the best has yet to come.

A haunting romance.

[DukeEman · 9/10 · 12 March 1999]

An elderly couple reunite in a nursing home and decide to hit the road back to their original homeland. Sweet and mesmerising with stunning locations.

Simply beautiful, beautifully simple

[timoherd-1 · 10/10 · 3 July 2012]

Thorgeir has grown old and is unable to run his farm anymore. He packs his few belongings, shoots his old dog, and leaves to the city. Living with his daughter's family doesn't work out too well, and he ends up in a nursery home - society's way of putting out people when they are no longer needed. There he meets up with Stella, and together they steal a Jeep and set out on a journey to northwest where they both grew up.

Children of Nature can be a difficult film to comprehend for the casual viewer, as elements of magical realism appear suddenly and without explanation in this seemingly realistic film. However, one must be aware that this is a travel to the childhood, back to rural Iceland, where supernatural was (and partly still is) a very real part of the way of life. Through the film, Thorgeir also undergoes transformation from his very cynical outset that sees death as turning into mere trash that has to be thrown out.

The beauty of Children of Nature is the way the simplistic road movie builds up into being commentary on urbanization, heritage, life and - most of all - death. The ending is one of the most powerful that I have ever seen.

A disappointment

[borek-l · 5/10 · 7 October 2007]

I have known about this movie long time, but only recently had chance to see it. Unfortunately, I have to say that I expected something more. I cannot comment on photography as I have seen very poor copy. But as far as the storytelling goes, this film is too shallow, too naive, too lacking depth for my tastes. Number of scenes stick out like sore thumb. Take the scene where police chases the jeep with the couple: it just vanishes - without any relation to anything, without any explanation. Or the scene with that country festival - what was it? Why was it? Or the naked woman on a cliff ("ghost" as she is mentioned). If the scene wasn't there, nothing would change. And there's more of this stuff.

The overall feeling is that of clumsiness. This looks more like student film than an opus from an accomplished director. I felt somewhat embarrassed for taking my girlfriend with me to see this movie.

BTW, I have seen "Cold Fever" by Fridrik Thor and I think it is better movie than the "Children of Nature".

Elder Children in Nature

[fred-kurz-698-387544 · 10/10 · 29 May 2013]

You watch the film once and you wonder why you did. A few days go by while you are slowly, increasingly, haunted by what you saw and heard. You watch it again and realize you haven't seen it. As the film plays, it grows into something vast, the more remote the more huge and you realize that what you knew of anything before was way too small and confining. You begin to get some idea of how BIG it all is without having moved from your seat. The old couple is showing you in their ever wider almost nonchalant voyage. And the soundtrack makes sure you are there with them and sometimes beyond them. No other film+music is remotely like it.

fine movie

[rdog-3 · 10 February 1999]

Since making Children of Nature he not made anything worthwhile, so he has passed his peak. He's made about 4-5 very bad films since nearly winning an oscar for this average but entertaining film. And he never really made anything good before this. It's a shame that he runs the Icelandic film industry single handedly.

A road movie into the past

[lcpessoti · 6 November 2011]

I would like to say that I was very happy to know that the middle name of the director is Thor. It is pretty difficult for us, Brazilians, to deal with the Icelandic characters. This is the director's second film I've seen. The first was MammaGogó and I translated both subtitles from English into Portuguese. I know we loose a lot in translating from one language to another, guess when we have to go through two translations! So, I am taking into consideration that I lost a lot from the original idea of the director. My feeling was that he had an excellent material, a road movie with two elders, who don't't have any longer the right to leave their own lives as they wish (well, one, the other was somewhat resigned to his fate). The film could be more profound as it is a problem faced overall the world, but he chose to make it naive. I don't't blame his choice, otherwise the two nice couple wouldn't walk one meter before been stopped and probably arrested. I congratulated with the director because he was audacious enough to bring up a subject that many people rather ignore. I am not an expert in Icelandic filmography and I surely will look forward to watch "Cold Fever", mentioned by one of the reviewers, and I would like to emphasize that he used elements of Icelandic folklore in order to help those fugitives who believed in such elements. It was just a matter of tradition and culture. My guessing.