rousep-944-647970 White Night Wedding follows the events in the life of Icelandic, ex-professor, Jón on the eve and on the morning of his wedding; his bride is a beautiful, young woman, once his student and 18 years his junior. The mother of his bride-to-be vows to call off the wedding if he will not pay her the funds he promised to ensure her permission to construct a golf course on her property. Meanwhile, throughout his preparations for the ceremony, Jón reflects on fragments of memories from his previous marriage to Anna, an artist who suffered from mental illness. During the course of these two days, he contends with bitter recognitions of his true character and his role in the events that ultimately led to the demise of his first marriage and his first wife's suicide; only the love of his new bride, who maintains a stubborn faith in his goodness, can prevent his attempts at self-destruction. The film skillfully conveys themes of human frailty and redemption, utilizing moments of tragedy and humor. The film begins with the first of many flashbacks Jón has – the shots each yellow, aged hue to show contrast with the present events, which are clear and sharp. He sees Anna.Deeply depressed, due to both her mental condition and the tenuous state of her marriage, Anna had requested that Jón resign from his position as university professor in Reykjavik and move with her to her home, the island of Flatey, hoping they might make a fresh start. The island has only one road and few inhabitants (Wikipedia, "Flatey,Breiðafjörður"). One of the inhabitants is Börkur, who convinces Jón to invest in his plans for a golf course spanning the length of the island. The owners of the guesthouse on the island, a husband and wife,own property on which Börkur hopes to build, so the two men approach them, and Börkur promises his partner will pay them rent for the property until the course is completed. In his business dealings with the couple, Jón encounters their daughter, Þóra, a student from one of his literature classes; their flirtatious interactions are preferable to the ramblings of his manic-depressive wife, and soon, he is spending night after night in Þóra's company. Anna sees the two on a walk and suspects that Jón is falling in love; she begs him to spend his time with her and end his visits to the guesthouse, but he insists he has business to attend to, and she is unable to dissuade him from going.One evening, in the company of the island's priest, whose compassion for Anna's mental condition makes him an attentive neighbor, Anna witnesses Jón making love to Þóra in the grasses just outside their home. Broken by the knowledge that she no longer has her husband's love, Anna rows out to sea in a leaking boat and drowns. These memories flash periodically through Jón's mind, producing deep feelings of guilt and doubt about his upcoming marriage to the young woman for whom he betrayed his wife. His self-hatred grows as he convinces himself of his sole responsibility for his wife's death, and he becomes convinced that his marriage to Þóra will eventually lead her to great unhappiness and, perhaps, a similar fate. He feels he is undeserving of love. These feelings are only reasserted by Þóra's mother, who has waited roughly a year for Jón to pay her the rent she feels she is due; she constantly berates him and her daughter for his negligence, convinced he will never repay (which is entirely true). She threatens to call off the wedding altogether, putting immense pressure on her daughter and unknowingly promising to relieve Jón of the guilt that builds as the wedding approaches. He hopes to escape. His father-in-law, a drunk with disappointed ambitions, comes to Jón's aid, providing him the money necessary to cover the rent his wife demands. However, Jón passes out after a night of drinking with his friends in the yard. When he wakes,the money has been blown away by the wind, though he never seems to reach this realization, possibly hoping he would not have to pay his debt, which would effectively put a stop to the wedding, as his mother-in-law promised. Just before the wedding belatedly begins, Þóra and her father see that Jón is just outside the church in the adjacent cemetery, looking on Anna's grave. The ceremony starts – and abruptly stops, when the groom pulls the bride outdoors to call the wedding off,confessing to her his guilt in Anna's death and attempting to convince her of the impending doom that would await her were they to marry. Distraught, she argues with him; her father soon joins her, and the rest of the congregation files out to watch the drama unfold. He walks to the shore, steps into a leaking canoe, and attempts to end his life as Anna had; but Þóra swims out to him, struggling against the weight of her gown, and desperately assures him that he is good and has her love unconditionally. The priest is carried to where they stand, and with something of exasperation and relief, Jón relents, and the two are married. Jón finds the happiness and redemption in his marriage; but his new wife appears restless, unhappy, and, possibly, unfaithful by the film's conclusion. Human frailty is reaffirmed. Jón represents the human condition – simultaneously fallible and hopeful. He betrays his wife to find redemption in life but finds it instead in his commitment to his new wife. At first, he refuses happiness, punishing himself for the mistakes of his past, his failure to love his wife. What saves him is the love he receives from Þóra. However, it seems he can't escape karma, and at the conclusion of the film, he has, in a sense, filled the role of Anna as the loving spouse, and Þóra appears to be looking for love elsewhere; the irony is both comic and tragic.

Hannah Lee Olson In the film White Night Wedding, directed by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur, the idea of true happiness and love in marriage is depicted as impossible to attain. Yet the promise of a new beginning seems to always be in the near horizon. The opening scene reveals a marriage rehearsal between a middle-aged and pessimist professor, Jon, and a fairly young and former student to Jon, Thora. It is clear within the first scene that Jon is not thrilled to marry Thora. Jon's unenthusiastic demeanor and narcissistic personality is portrayed throughout the entire movie, which result in loveless marriages. The film frequently flashes back to Jon's previous marriage with his former wife, Anna. The couple moves to the beautiful and isolated town in western Iceland, Flatley, Breioafjorou in hopes of reviving their dwindling marriage. Jon and Anna's marriage had been suffering because Anna had a mental illness. Not many details are given as to how her illness occurred but it is clear that her mental episodes severely impacted Jon's attraction and love for Anna. When the struggling couple moves to Flatley, Jon makes a business deal with, the parents of Thora, Sisi and Larus. The business plan was to open a golf course that stretched across the town in rather inconvenient locations. The golf course is poorly executed and which results in Jon accumulating an insane amount of debt. In the midst of this ridiculous golf course investment, Jon and Anna continue to grow further apart. Jon starts to become annoyed by Anna's creative and insane nature. He then develops an attraction for Thora, which results in a heated affair. Anna finds out about the affair and has a mental breakdown that ultimately puts an end to their life together.Though the end of Jon's previous marriage is tragic and the beginning of his current one seems like a hopeless case, there is a dark comedic element to the film. I think this element is shown in the supporting roles and their pathetic nature. For example, Jon's best man, Borker, is an incredibly oblivious and clueless man who only makes Jon's life more difficult. In fact, it is ironic that Borker is Jon's best man as the golf course was his foolish idea that led to Jon's falling out between Thora's parents. Additionally, I think Jon's friend, Sjonni, brings a comedic element, as he is a complete drunk who spends half the movie trying to find his clothing. I found it rather comedic that a professor would have these kinds of friends and would want an alcoholic as an organist and a loon as a best man. It also showed how little Jon cared about the wedding and the haphazard nature of Jon's relationships outside of his marriage.As I mentioned before there are flashbacks that show Jon's past relationship with Anna intermediately between Jon and Thora's wedding. There were several cinematic techniques that were used to emphasize this contrast. For example, when there were flashbacks the lighting changed to a duller yellowish/sepia tint whereas the present showed colors that were bright and clear. I felt like this contrast emphasized Jon's perspective and how he felt bored and trapped with Anna but had hope for his future with Thora. The director also used a lot of natural light which emphasized Jon's perspective. For example, on the night before Jon's marriage, the sun never goes down and Jon continues to talk about new beginnings. It looks almost as if Jon can live in this timeless capsule where the day never ends nor begins. However, this timeless and hopeful imagery is shortly shattered in the flash forward to Thora and Jon's actual marriage; which ends up being just as boring and loveless as his previous one. Along with contrasts in lighting there is also a contrast between rural and urban setting as the characters move between both sceneries. The city is shown as slightly cramped and congested and the rural setting is isolated, picturesque, and spacious. I feel that these settings impacted Jon's attitude in various ways. For example, when Jon was in the city he appeared level headed with some deeper knowledge about the world, but while in the rural setting Jon's emotions fluctuate frequently and he has no real reason to his actions. Overall I felt like the main character had a narcissistic personality and a stuck up demeanor when approaching his relationships. This aspect of the movie definitely detracted me from enjoying the film. That being said, I did appreciate the comedic effect the movie had despite the dark subjects of adultery, mental illness, and loveless marriages. I would recommend this movie for anyone who enjoys dark humor, outrageous characters, and tragic drama.

proitz Dare to dream!In White Night Wedding we meet a literature professor, Jon, who is preparing for his second marriage. The wedding is taking place on a small island called Flatey in Iceland that can only be visited by boat. Jon's soon to be wife, Thora, is one of Jon's former students and about half his age. They seem happy together, and everything should be set for a perfect wedding. However, it is not that simple, Jon has a couple of things he needs to take care of before the wedding can take place. He is in debt to Thora's mother, and she is threatening to call off the wedding unless Jon pays her. He is also haunted by memories of his first wife, Anna. In addition to this, he has to deal with his drunken best man.I believe the most important theme in this movie is dreams. Jon is in a stage of his life where he struggles to find purpose. He is suffering from his first marriage, he is not able to pay his dept to his future mother in law, and he has no job. Jon wanted to become a professor so that he could make a difference in the world; however, when he realized that his job was not what he pictured it to be, he decided to take a break from teaching. If Jon does not get his life together, he will end up as his future father in law, Lasus. Although Lasus is happy on the outside, his decision to sacrifice his dream of becoming an opera singer for marrying Sisi is clearly affecting him. I believe this represents the kind of suffering that Jon will inevitably have to suffer unless he gets his life back on track. At the end, Jon says, "If you're happy for more than ten minutes then you're an idiot." This statement emphasizes his awareness of having a dream and a goal to strive for. The director, Kormakur, did a phenomenal job representing Jon's memories of Anna in flashbacks throughout the movie. His way of jumping from the present to the past without warning the audience is an original way of portraying a story that is indeed built on the past. He dares to explore new effects that can make the story challenging to follow, but does it with such a perfection that the viewer wants more flashbacks to get a deeper understanding of Jon's actions.Other main themes in this movie are relationships and greed. We see a relationship that is falling apart in Jon's memories, a relationship with Thora that is insecure in Jon's present life, a forced relationship between Thora's parents, and a starting relationship between Borkur and Mathildur to mention a few. Greed is represented in Sisi. All she cares about is money, and she is determined to get back the money Jon borrowed to build a golf course. Sisi's greed is contrasted in Lasus and Jon whom are not motivated by money at all. The location chosen for this movie is a great representation of Icelandic culture. The idyllic climate and unpopulated atmosphere on Flatey confirms my stereotypic Icelandic environment. Also the acting in White night Wedding is phenomenal. The emotions brought to life are so natural and honest that you fall in love with the characters one by one. Borkur's passion, Mathildur's honesty, the priest's anger, and Jon's fare are some of the emotions that will bring the viewer on an emotional roller-coaster. I recommend this movie to everyone that has some interest in Nordic film. The themes of dreams, relationships, and greed are themes we can all relate to, and you will at some level be able to relate to the situations that occur in the White Night Wedding. Kormakur is a world-class director who is not afraid to explore new methods to create movies. Let the actors charm you and let the director challenge your mind. This movie is worthy of all its awards. Dare to see it!

rosenwin Baltasar Kormakur's White Night Wedding offers a compelling glimpse into the pursuit of dreams and happiness through the story of a couple's simultaneously tragic and humorous wedding night. By weaving together stories from different times and perspectives, Kormakur shows the full range of human emotion, from terrible despair and loss to finding new love and dreams for the future. With its expert balance of mainstream film conventions with the realistic and at times blunt nature of Nordic film, the film was generally met with success. It received 7 Edda awards and was also Icland's entry for the foreign-language Oscar in 2009. The plot revolves around Jon, a 40-some philosophy professor, on the eve of his second wedding. The first scene portrays Jon as apathetic and uninterested in his young bride Thora, as the film progresses his behavior is slowly justified as we learn about the tragic events of his past marriage that haunt him. The film blurs past and present as the scenes alternate between the comedic escapades of the groom's best friend's drunken late-night activities, Jon's conflict with Sisi (Thora's mother), and flashbacks of Jon's struggles with his late wife, Anna. One of the film's most intriguing aspects stems from the delicate way that Kormakur stretches and obscures the passage of time. The "White Night" of the film's title refers to the day of the year when the dark of night is shortest. This creates a strange visual experience for the viewer: although the primary events of the film occur over the course of night, the constant presence of the hazy Icelandic sun obscures our reference point for the passage of time. Because of the importance of the impending wedding the next day, the viewer feels a heightened sense of discomfort upon this temporal confusion. Additionally, Jon's flashbacks further disrupt our sense of time. The transitions between past and present are subtle, and with significant overlaps in setting and characters, the viewer is not always aware in what time or space the events on the screen are taking place. Overall, this temporal obscurity enhances our understanding of the pervasive emotional turmoil to which Jon, Anna, Thora, Sisi, and many of the other characters are subject. Obfuscating our sense of time in the film is just one of many ways that Kormakur evokes a strong emotional response from the viewer. There is significant contrast between the emotions of the past and present events portrayed in the film. The humorous exploits of Jon and his friends as they gallivant drunkenly through the town are strongly juxtaposed with vignettes of Jon's past life. We acutely experience Anna's severe depression, the priest's anger and frustration, and Sisi's domineering abuse alongside comedic dreams of a golf course gone awry, the passion of new love, and whimsical mountaintop serenades. Through this juxtaposition, we experience each set of emotions all the more profoundly. The breathtaking setting of the island of Flatey perpetuates these emotions well: a rather garish lighting of the bright island hills somehow fits the essence of both the raw unhappiness of the past and the inescapable imminence of the immediate future. The high contrast between land, sea, and sky captures the high contrast of the character's emotions and our responses to those emotions. The wide variety of characters in the narrative allows us to experience the full range of human emotions, and is a source of great entertainment and poignancy in the film. Through mere glimpses into the lives of these characters, the audience feels a deep sense of compassion and understanding of each of their walks of life. One of the film's most lovable characters is Lasus, Thora's father. Though dejected by his domineering wife, Lasus find solace in music and entertaining Flatey's visitors. However, Lasus' jovial spirits are bittersweet: he has left behind his dream of becoming an opera singer. A shot of his plump, naked body bobbing alone in the sea as he sings a lonesome folk tune profoundly captures the essence of this emotionally duality. Another highlight of the island's residences is Malla, Thora's delightfully contrary sister. Though Malla is a social misfit and is constantly chastised by Sisi, she too finds a form of love and learns to have the gumption to triumph over Sisi's bullying. This ramshackle bunch of eccentric characters allows us to experience the entire spectrum of human emotion that is so critical in the film. Their wants, desires, and dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled tell a tale of life's many journeys, good and bad. Like the sun's perpetual trek across the sky, we are at times unable to change the course of events that befall us. Love and life is at times lost. However, life is not lived with the arrival or disappearance of night and day, but rather in the spaces in between: in the white night, in the perpetual and unavoidable journey that life itself entails. Overall, White Night Wedding offers a painfully honest tale that wonderfully captures the countless complexities of the human journey.