Movie Review: Heima (2007)

Title:  Heima
Release Date:  5 October 2007
Director: Dean DeBlois
Rating: ****


Not your average concert film.  Sigur Rós returns to Iceland after a world tour (the title means “At Home”) and conducts a thank you tour of their island nation.  The band performs in community halls, an abandoned factory, on hillsides, and on a dam where protestors are encamped.  The cinematography and the editing are so gorgeous, pairing the music with the Icelandic landscape and the people in the audience (you get the sense that a good portion of the Icelandic population appear in this film). A local choir, brass band, and traditional chanter join in the performance to add to the Icelandic cultural milleiu.   It’s really a movie one can immerse oneself in and get a sense of a country’s national identity.