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Heartstone Movie Review

Heartstone is a 2016 Icelandic drama film directed by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. It is a very well crafted, but overlong movie.

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“So stop being ashamed that your mother has a friend“

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In a fishing village in Iceland, a young man watches his best friend him try to win the heart of a girl. As he watches his friend pursue the girl he discovers he has feelings for his friend. This is a very strange film in terms of the sexuality portrayed on screen. I personally found it overly problematic to depict teenagers’ sexual awakening in such a graphic manner, especially having in mind that the protagonist is clearly a prepubescent kid.

The script did not quite acknowledge that age and physical difference, which was a big hurdle that the movie never overcame. With that being said, most of the scenarios that they portrayed are highly relatable and/or believable. The teasing of body parts, wishing to be older and the struggles to accept body changes and sexuality are all very realistically depicted here in a rare film that truly gets what it feels like to go through puberty.

The acting performances are also universally strong and surprisingly so given that the movie employed real teens in these roles, but they all delivered in spades. The adults fared much worse. I found the fathers overly strict and the whole outlook on village life in Iceland seemed way too difficult for this modern era. But thankfully the young characters are well developed and the protagonist is particularly well realized.

I appreciated the fact that the gay character going through identity crisis is the secondary character and the protagonist is his possibly straight, much more childish best friend. That different perspective was authentic and it reminded me pleasantly of the similarly-themed ‘Giant Little Ones’.

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What I didn’t like, though, is the pacing. Heartstone is so terribly paced as it is two hours long, but the script never called for such a length. The result is the second half that seriously drags and the third act that becomes overly melodramatic in a typically cinematic fashion. Thankfully, the cinematography is gorgeous and emphasizing on Icelandic fjords and greenery beautifully. It is particularly interesting that the village that they portrayed is the first time that this place was ever depicted on the big screen.