Memòria Vonlenska
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VONLENSKA
V O N L E N S K A2
Vonlenska is a fi lm created out of Vonlenska is a fi lm created out of Vonlenskaa piece of literature (a novella with the same name). The fact that the work was not originally conceived as a screenplay is likely to be why it is a dramatic piece with strong poetic currents, its rhetoric turning on screen into evocative images that need to be understood as short visual poems that are full of meaning.
Vonlenska tells the story of Vonlenska tells the story of Vonlenskathree characters, each of whom has lost a loved one, who are now collectively living through a period of sadness and solitude. The chance acquaintance of these characters through living in the same apartment block leads to their lives intertwining with one another to the point where the isolation in which they are living turns into companionship, and little by little evolves into feelings of friendship and love.
Vonlenska is a fi lm that deals with Vonlenska is a fi lm that deals with Vonlenskalosing and fi nding, remembering and forgetting, and falling out of love and back into it. It is about a period of change in the lives of its three characters in which things both come to an end and are also yet to begin.
V O N L E N S K A3
INDEXLOGLINE _____________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 4
SYNOPSIS ____________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 4
THE TWO MAIN THEMES _________________________________________________________ PÀG. 5
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE __________________________________________________________ PÀG. 6
• ACT ONE __________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 6
• ACT TWO __________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 7
• ACT THREE ________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 8
• CREDITS __________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 9
THE CARACTERS ______________________________________________________________ PÀG. 10
• HARALDSON ______________________________________________________________ PÀG. 10
• ALEC ____________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 12
• EIR _____________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 14
LOCATIONS __________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 16
SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS __________________________________________________________ PÀG. 21
REFERENCES ________________________________________________________________ PÀG. 23
• FILM REFERENCES _________________________________________________________ PÀG. 24
• MUSIC REFERENCES ________________________________________________________ PÀG. 27
• LITERARY REFERENCES ______________________________________________________ PÀG. 28
SCRIPT (FIRST SCENE) _________________________________________________________ PÀG. 29
V O N L E N S K A4
LOGLINEA girl, a boy and an old man live in the same Reykjavik apartment block. All three are living through a period of sadness and solitude, each having lost a loved one. Their chance meeting allows their isolation to turn into companionship, friendship and love.
SYNOPSISMr Haraldsson, an ex-poet who for no apparent
reason stopped writing and who is now the
concierge of a rundown apartment block
in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, has just
suffered the death of his wife. Alec is a young
man who has decided to leave the Antipodes
to get away from his ex-girlfriend and forget
about her. Eir’s boyfriend, a well-known
musician with whom she was deeply in love,
has just left her. These are the three main
characters of the story. None of them seem
to be interested in what the future holds, with
each of them prevented from moving forward
through permanently living in their traumatic
pasts. However, gradually, and thanks to the
Demiurge-like role played by Mr Haraldsson
in Eir and Alec’s lives, a nascent love story
between the two young characters unfolds –
even though the ex-partners of both remain
a constant presence in their minds – as their
paths cross in the apartment block or take
trips around the city together. These excursions
serve to both bring the protagonists closer
together and set off a slow process of them
discovering their personalities.
Meanwhile, following the arrival at the
apartment block – and so to its concierge,
Mr Haraldsson – of letters from Eir and Alec’s
ex-partners looking for a reconciliation with
their exes, an unintentional mix-up involving
Mr Haraldsson returning the letters to the
wrong senders makes it impossible for the two
couples to meet up again, which in turn opens
up the possibility of a new relationship forming
between Eir and Alec.
The old man’s death marks a turning point
in the relationship between Eir and Alec.
Having been brought together by him, they
become closer and travel to Höfn to fulfi l Mr
Haraldsson’s dream that he never managed to
do in his own life: seeing the aurora borealis.
This is the setting for the climactic scene of
the story.
As a fi nal coda, an epilogue tells the story of
the ‘collateral damage’ caused by the return of
Eir and Alec’s ex-partners’ letters, accidentally
to the wrong partner, which meant that the
couples were unable to meet again.
V O N L E N S K A5
THE TWO MAIN THEMESSolitude brought about as a direct result of
lost love is Vonlenska’s central theme. A Vonlenska’s central theme. A Vonlenska’sgrandfather who has recently lost the love of
his life, and a boy and a girl who have just
gone through break ups from their previous
relationships are the three main characters
who, apparently trapped by the past and their
memories, all seem to share little inclination
for carrying on. However, bit by bit, this very
solitude causes these characters to come
together and turns into companionship and
ultimately love. Moreover, the three characters
are the only inhabitants and neighbours of the
apartment block in which they are living.
Love, a subject which in this story is handled
in a way that is rarely seen in fi lms. The
traditional tale of boy meets girl - boy loses
girl - boy gets girl back plays no part here;
in this story the usual steps of love and two
people getting to know one another do not
take place. Instead, the story takes place
exactly at a point that exists between two
loves, which is to say: boy/girl leaves girl/boy
– boy/girl is alone – boy/girl meets girl/boy.
This idea allows a phase of falling out of love
and periods of solitude and fi nding love again
to be explored, with a particular focus on the
human capacity to overcome old loves that
at fi rst seem irreplaceable, yet, when least
expected, someone comes along who, little by
little, ends up fi lling the void left by the person
who left.
V O N L E N S K A6
DRAMATIC STRUCTUREAlthough Vonlenska’s plot development does not correspond to what is usually understood to be the classical structure of the steps of falling in love, it does have a conventional and clearly cinematographic narrative structure due to the visual style in which the story is narrated, in spite of it originally being a literary work.
ACT ONE
The fi lm begins with a highly poetic sequence.
Alec (one of the three protagonists) walks through
the coldness of Reykjavik in search of a phone
box, from where he makes a call to his ex-
girlfriend. This sequence is highly symbolic and a
metaphor for the fi lm in general, partly because
it presents its context – the cold, the white and
the silence, the three most signifi cant elements
present throughout the story – and partly because
the isolated space of the phone box, a bubble in
which nothing more than what happens inside of
it has any importance, is a metaphor for the whole
story. Two further sequences are linked with this
one to introduce the other two main characters:
Eir being left by her ex-boyfriend, a violinist, and
the elderly Mr Haraldsson’s obsession with his
Hasselblad, a key object in this character’s life
which gradually helps us to understand him better.
First turning point: The three characters (Eir,
Alec and Haraldsson) meeting one another
in a bar one evening shows us the initial
relationships they have with one another. Eir
and Haraldsson know each other a little, but
Alex doesn’t know either of them. Haraldsson
getting drunk is the event that brings the two
younger characters (Eir and Alec) together, as
the two take the old man back home, at which
point they discover that they are neighbours,
something that until this moment they did not
know.
V O N L E N S K A7
ACT TWO
Deliberately constructed with a slow but
constant rhythm, the main body of the story
is punctuated by a range of encounters and
excursions involving the three main characters,
such as a whale-watching trip, a Christmas
dinner, some fi reside drinks, a trip to the
Blue Lagoon and a supper in the dark. These
encounters allow the characters, with their
measured words and their lengthy silences, to
get to know each other little by little. In spite
of their slow pace, through these activities the
relationships between the characters become
tighter knit as time goes by, so that the solitude
that the three share in the end turns into a very
warm companionship.
This second act does not contain any moments
of great turbulence that turn around the
destinies of the main characters that are
usually expected from the thick of a plot.
However, a mix-up of two letters sent to Eir
and Alec by their ex-partners, which the elderly
Haraldsson decides to return to their senders
but accidently sends each one to the wrong ex-
partner, does change the destinies of the two
other main characters.
Second turning point: Haraldsson, tired
and pining strongly for his beloved late wife
Kristjana (who died two years previously) dies.
It is not known if he committed suicide, though
the open window of his dining room and the
fact that he froze to death seem to suggest
that he did. His death is a highly poetic one, not
least because the character dies with a book of
Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry frozen into his hands.
V O N L E N S K A8
ACT THREE
After seeing the slow development of Alec and
Eir’s love, which until now was not explicit, with
their relationship seeming more like a nascent
friendship, Haraldsson’s death brings them
closer together. Moreover, with the two unaware
that their ex-partners tried to contact them, it
seems by this point that the two have forgotten
their pasts and will fi nally decide to start living
for the future.
Climax: To say goodbye to Haraldsson, Eir
suggests to Alec that they go to Höfn to see
the aurora borealis, which was Haraldsson’s
dream. There, and as a climax, we will see the
end point – or rather, the beginning – of their
love story: their fi rst kiss (in the purest classical
‘made in Hollywood’ style).
Epilogue: After what seems to be a very
conventional ending, in the form of the couple’s
kiss, the fi lm has an unconventional fi nale. It is
a fi nal coda that could have been left out, but
which we have decided to include because it
emphasizes the conclusiveness of the main
story. The sequence takes place in Prague
and involves the meeting/misunderstanding
involving the ex-partners of Alec and Eir. Due
to Haraldsson’s mix-up with the letters (which
we don’t know was intended or not) the ex-
partners will never meet up with the main
characters, who will never know that Grace
(Alex’s ex) and Ian (Eir’s ex) had asked them for
one last chance.
V O N L E N S K A9
CREDITS
This fi nal part, included so that those who
want to see it can, and those who don’t will
not miss any of the story, shows Eir and Alec
in Barcelona together. It simply confi rms a love
story that has just begun.
Supporting secondary themes to the main story
If earlier we outlined the main objectives
of the story as an analysis of solitude and
the earliest stages of love (between Eir
and Alec), one of Vonlenska’s secondary
themes is how its characters handle their
past relationships (Grace and Ian as well
as Eir, Alec and Haraldsson). They have
all experienced loss and are trying to
recover from it, without really knowing what
the best way to forget or recover is. The
different characters attempt it variously
through a letter, a photo, an empty violin
case, death or silence; and in the end the
poetic justice handed down by Haraldsson
leads to the main characters being unaware
of the apologies of their ex-partners and
the possibility of getting back with them, in
favour of a new love story.
V O N L E N S K A10
THE CHARACTERS HARALDSSON (70 years old, Icelandic)
MAX VON SYDOW (Sweden)
3rd option
STELLAN SKARSGARD (Sweden) BRUNO GANZ (Germany)
1st option 2nd option
V O N L E N S K A11
Haraldsson is a man of around seventy.
Physically he is elderly and of a normal stature,
a touch slim and not particularly tall. He has
short, white hair and is always unshaven.
Looking at him one would think that he does
not take particularly good care of himself, with
the little hair on his head unkempt. He always
wears corduroy trousers, and when he is
working he also wears heavy boots so that his
feet do not get wet from the snow, as one of his
daily tasks is to clear the snow that frequently
builds up outside the doorway of the building
that he takes care of as its concierge. Very
often he also wears a very old anorak, which he
sometimes combines with another, more brightly
coloured one. His clothes are patched up and
the buttons of his shirt are often poorly sewn
on. Although he is not physically very polished,
intellectually he is. We do not fi nd out about this
until later on in the story, but Haraldsson used
to be a university professor who specialized in
French literature. For this reason he is often
seen reading, and the concierge station (his
workspace) is full of the great classics of French
literature (Proust, Balzac, Nin etc.). He also
used to be a poet, and moreover a rising star in
Icelandic literature, but because he did not want
to compete with Kristjana, his wife, he decided
to leave the way clear for her and work as the
concierge of the apartment block where he lives.
He is still passionate about literature, though
from his invisible position at the concierge
station, it is not outwardly obvious. His decision
to abandon writing is proof of his feelings for
Kristjana, his wife and the great love of his life.
He would do anything for her, and since she
died he often gets drunk just to see her, even
if it is only in the form of hallucinations. His life
is now no more than waiting to die so that he
can be with her again, since there is no longer
anything left that ties him to the world; in the
meantime he keeps himself occupied with the
little adventures he has through living with Eir
and Alec, the new tenant.
The fact that he gave up the life of an
intellectual to take up the humble post of
concierge – and also do it with pleasure
and dedication – is most symptomatic of his
personality. At all times he lets it show that he
is a man who is happy doing what he does, and
he never seems to have any ambition other that
let time pass until the day comes when he is
reunited with his love.
Due to the friendship that he forms with Eir
and Alec, Haraldsson has paternal feelings
towards the two young people that he has
never experienced before, having never had any
children or any family members other than his
wife. And although his hiding and returning of
the letters from Eir and Alec’s ex-partners may
seem to have been motivated by bad intentions,
it is essential to understand it as having been
borne out of kindness and his desire to protect
his “new” friends by stopping them having their
hearts broken again.
V O N L E N S K A12
3rd option1st option 2nd option
MARC CLOTET (Catalonia)ROGER COMA (Catalonia)QUIM GUTIÉRREZ (Catalonia)
ALEC (29, Catalan)THE CHARACTERS
3rd option1st option 2nd option
V O N L E N S K A13
Alec is a young man of average stature and
is on the slim side and dark. He does not
look as though he attaches much importance
to his appearance, although he is physically
attractive and interesting without corresponding
to the typical features of classical male
handsomeness.
He usually wears t-shirts with designs and
features that suggest they have been bought in
different countries across the world, although
as a result of the cold of Reykjavik he often
dresses in woollen jumpers and jeans. It’s clear
that he is neither used to nor prepared for
handling low temperatures, and indeed on more
than one occasion through his gestures we can
see that he is feeling the cold.
With regard to his professional life, Alec studied
translations and interpreting and is fl uent in
Catalan, Spanish, English and French. This
has allowed him to travel extensively, although
his real reason for leaving Barcelona was his
desire for a change of scene and his belief
that he would fi nd happiness elsewhere. He
fulfi lled this last objective when he arrived in
New Zealand and met Grace, a girl who he
was in a relationship with for two years, with
the couple living in New Zealand during this
time. Their break-up hit Alec very hard, making
him make radical changes in his life, and
ultimately leading to him trying to get as far
from Grace as possible. It turned out that the
furthest point from Grace and the Antipodes
was Reykjavik, where he arrived in a state of
distress and confusion. In spite of his language
skills he fi rmly intends to cut himself off in his
own isolation and not come into contact with
anybody, a situation that changes, even though
he did not intend it to, when he meets Eir and
Haraldsson.
Alec is a character with great sensibilities. This
is demonstrated in part through his love of
cinema and literature, something that gives him
common ground with Haraldsson.
It is worth highlighting that although Alec is not
an especially shy character, he does seem to be
that way at the start of the fi lm; this is because
his personal situation (living through a break-
up) and his environment (intentionally moving
to an unknown country) lead him to adopt a
reserved and distant attitude towards the things
and people that he is beginning to encounter.
Very slowly, and in the fi nal part of the story,
his personality comes to the fore and he opens
himself up to others, displaying touches of
humour that the viewer has not come to expect
from this character. He communicates with the
other characters in English.
V O N L E N S K A14
3rd option1st option 2nd option
VIKTORIA WINGE (Norway)MINKEN TVEITAN (Norway)INGRID BOLSO BERDAL (Norway)
EIR (26 years old, Icelandic)THE CHARACTERS
3rd option1st option 2nd option
V O N L E N S K A15
EIR (26 years old, Icelandic)
Eir is a simple girl. She has a fragile
appearance, and is thin and of a normal height
(she is neither tall nor short). She is blonde and
has pale skin. She has pretty features without
being stunning. Her appearance perfectly
matches the ideas of a typical Nordic girl (pale
and with long and fi ne blonde hair).
She always wears leggings and baggy woollen
jumpers that she makes herself, and always
wears fairly unfeminine boots. She never wears
jewellery, but she does always have accessories
such as hats and scarves made from coloured
wool. She almost never wears make up, unless
it’s a very special occasion. When she does she
uses very soft tones, which complement her
natural beauty very well.
She has a cheerful and easy-going character,
although initially – just like Alec – we see her
as being sad and subdued after suffering the
most devastating sort of break-up possible
when her boyfriend, a violinist, left her without
giving a warning or explanation.
She doesn’t really do anything specifi c for a
living, other than jobs that allow her to get
by (for example, working in a restaurant from
time to time, although we don’t ever see her
working as a waitress; or restoring old furniture
and making jewellery and clothes to sell).
She enjoys leading an easy life that is free
of complications beyond paying the monthly
bills, even though this means not having many
luxuries, and also that she has never been
outside of Iceland before. Nevertheless, she
takes pleasure in the little, everyday things of
life such as music, and she is a big fan of the
group Sigur Ros.
She is more of an extrovert than Alec and
has a very good relationship with Haraldsson
(he and she communicate in Icelandic). As
for her ex-partner, the two have an unequal
relationship, with her being more in love than
he was. Overcoming her sadness, she gradually
becomes closer to Alec, a relationship that she
encourages, more so than he does, through
small gestures, which will undoubtedly result in
a healthier relationship (one of equals), unlike
the one she had with Ian, her ex-boyfriend.
V O N L E N S K A16
LOCATIONSIt’s no accident that the fi lm almost entirely takes
places in Reykjavik (Iceland), with this location
being selected because contextually it offers a
perfectly symbolic setting for the situation of the
three main characters. The harshness of the
cold, the poetic whiteness of the landscape, the
hermetic qualities of the Icelandic language and
the inevitably introspective way of life created by
the near-arctic weather conditions are what make
Iceland the place that best encapsulates the state
of mind of Vonlenska’s three protagonists.
REYKJAVÍKWithin the cut-off bubble that is the city of
Reykjavik (in which, apart from the streets, we
see a square, an apartment block, its concierge
station, a library and a bar), the characters make
three important outings that are central to the
development of the story, to the following places:
V O N L E N S K A17
WHALE-WATCHING BOAT
This excursion adds meaning to the plot because
whales symbolize timidity, profoundness and inner
self, characteristics shared by the three main
characters, who almost never come to the surface
and allow themselves to be seen, preferring instead
to live in a state of introspection and restraint.
BLUE LAGOON
The trip to the Blue Lagoon takes place
at a fairly advanced point in the plot. It
marks a point where the characters begin
to feel more comfortable with one another
and start to be more forthcoming about
themselves. The Blue Lagoon is a park
– almost a theme park – that offers hot,
thermal water in the midst of Iceland’s polar
coldness. The idea is that this is the oasis
of companionship that the three characters
have found in the middle of their trying
personal situations.
V O N L E N S K A18
AURORA BOREALIS
At the end of the film, after Haraldsson
has died, Alec and Eir go to Höfn, a village
in Iceland that is a very good spot from
which to see the Aurora Borealis, to say
goodbye to Haraldsson, who had previously
said that it was his dream to see it before
he died. Since he is no longer able to
see it, Alec and Eir do it in his memory.
The spectacular colours and magic of the
aurora borealis are the ideal scene for the
final action, in which Eir and Alec finally
decide, with a final kiss, to put a full stop
at the end of their old relationships, and
to turn the page and start a new chapter
together.
V O N L E N S K A19
THE APARTMENT BLOCK
The apartment block in which the three
protagonists live, on Eyrarland street (not quite
in the city centre, but close to it), is quite run
down. The block has only three residents:
Haraldsson, Eir and Alec. The building looks
grey, solitary and not well looked after. Of the
three fl ats, we see that of Haraldsson, which
will be the typical old person’s fl at – with old
furniture, fl owery curtains, porcelain plates
and books everywhere (because Haraldsson
and his wife are both avid readers and former
university professors) – and also that of Eir,
which is more modern, but also simple and
with only a couple of basic pieces of furniture.
This location will require a concierge station,
since this is Haraldsson’s job and the place
where some of the action takes place. It will
be a wooden concierge station with a table
and a chair in it, with books and mail on the
table, as during the day Haraldsson reads
books and receives the mail.
The following link, in addition to being for
a video containing Sigur Ros’s music, also
shows a building that is very similar to the one
inhabited by the main characters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwBi_Cmw5yE
PHONE BOX
The phone box is a very important element as it
is the place where the fi lm and its story begin.
It cannot be a particularly modern phone box,
and needs to be from the time when phone
boxes were like glass cubes that could be
completely closed. The phone box is the only
point of contact between Alec and his past life.
V O N L E N S K A20
PRAGUE
Prague has been chosen because, bearing in
mind the distance between Reykjavik and New
Zealand, it sits somewhere between these two
cities. Furthermore, the choice of Prague was also
based on a desire to fi nd a romantic and warm
setting. Its history, colours and architecture make
it an ideal place for the hypothetical encounter that
Eir and Alec’s ex-partners believe they are going
to have. Only two locations within Prague will be
seen. Firstly Old Town Square will be used as it is
known for being one of the city’s main tourist sites,
and given that the two characters that go there in
the fi lm are themselves tourists, it makes sense
to use this location. The other reason for choosing
the Old Town Square is because it is the site of the
Cathedral’s astronomical clock, which is known
across the world for its complex design and its
beauty. Bearing in mind that the fi lm ends with the
sounds of bells as the clock strikes quarter past
seven, this time being the deadline for things to
either be fi xed or not for the two former couples, it
will be interesting for this clock, with all its history,
to sound out the fi nal point in the story of the two
love stories that will never be possible.
Another location in Prague is the Charles Bridge,
which holds signifi cance because Grace writes
her letter to Alec on the back of a photograph
taken on the bridge; at the end of the fi lm Ian
(the ex-boyfriend who erroneously received the
letter) disappointedly and sadly crosses the bridge
because Eir did not make an appearance, as had
been arranged in the letter (that she did not write).
V O N L E N S K A21
SYMBOLIC ELEMENTSThe fact that this is a minimalist piece in terms of its plot, characters, script and production does not mean that it is not full of small details and motifs in the form of a range of recurring objects that appear as the fi lm develops, providing it with depth and meaning. Here are some examples:
THE VIOLIN CASE ROMEO Y JULIETA CIGARS
When Ian (Eir’s boyfriend), leaves he takes
everything (including the violin) with him, except
for the case. Eir holds on to it as her only hope
that sooner or later he will come back for it. We
see this object repeatedly, and it is a metaphor
for a couple’s story that is not by any means
closed. The day when Eir, after always having it
out in sight, decides to keep it at the bottom of the
wardrobe – a way of saying that she has stopped
thinking he will come back – is a signifi cant one.
The cigars are one of Haraldsson’s
reminders of his and Kristjana’s wedding.
The legendary Cuban Romeo y Julieta brand
has not been chosen by chance, with these
two figures representing the romantic ties
between the old couple. Moreover, the
moment when Haraldsson offers the cigars
to Eir and Alec is a way of foreshadowing
the slow love story that will develop
between them in the future.
V O N L E N S K A22
HASSELBLAD
This medium-format camera made by
Hasselblad is another important object that
appears throughout the story. It is a childhood
memory that has been with Haraldsson all of
his life, which was given to him by his father
when he was young and which he used to get
to know Kristjana. When Haraldsson dies, he
tells Eir and Alec that they can keep it, as a
pretext for saying that if he was able to use it to
fall in love, then perhaps they could too.
HARALDSSON’S SHOVEL
The snow shovel is an object that we always
see next to the main door. It is a very important
element as it warns us, in a defi ning moment,
of Haraldsson’s death. Throughout the fi lm, the
shovel, wet from the snow, is a recurring image,
as is the sight of Haraldsson clearing away
snow from the doorway. Consequently, the day
when we see the shovel dry and untouched, it
is clear that something out of the ordinary has
happened, because Haraldsson has not used it.
THE SNOW
The snow, more an element than an object,
is almost an additional character in the
film, because it shapes the behaviour of
the characters, who rarely leave home
and therefore spend more time with one
another. The snow is also very important
for the visual and poetic potential that it
has throughout, offering the possibility
of moments of nostalgia, anecdotes and
surprise.
V O N L E N S K A23
REFERENCESSome of Vonlenska’s visual and stylistic references come from Asian cinema. There are two specifi c works which, through their screenplays and aesthetics, have echoes of this story.
Firstly, the love story between Eir and Alec recalls
the lovers in Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, whose love does not reach physical
culmination in spite of the strength of their feelings.
This is also the case in Vonlenska, though the
warm Asian lighting is replaced with blue, white
and coldness. However, the intensity of the story
is expressed through interiors of the protagonists’
fl ats, in which the lighting is much warmer.
The other film recalled by Vonlenska is
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring by Kim Ki-duk. Like Vonlenska, this
film also takes place in an isolated setting,
and the films are also constructed around a
block structuring and share a range of poetic
situations with very strong visual impacts.
V O N L E N S K A24
Other references contained within the fi lm are more explicit and are mentioned or lived, directly or indirectly, by the characters. These references come from a wide range of genres and forms:
FILM REFERENCES
Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story is a film
over which Alec and Haraldsson find
common ground, with it becoming clear
that it is an important film in their lives
that they enjoy a lot. This choice of film is
deliberate, because it contains a sad and
nostalgia-filled old man who is analogous
to Haraldsson.
V O N L E N S K A25
The green light from the moment when
Kim Novak transforms into Madeleine in
Hitchcock’s Vertigo is referenced in the fi lm’s Vertigo is referenced in the fi lm’s Vertigofi nal kiss scene between Alec and Eir, which
is bathed in the green light of the Aurora
Borealis. In both Vertigo and Vonlenska these
are crucial moments that the viewer has been
eagerly awaiting.
V O N L E N S K A26
There is a less explicit reference to Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin, which simply takes Times by Charlie Chaplin, which simply takes Timesthe form of Vonlenska borrowing the legendary
image from Chaplin’s fi lm of the two lovers
heading off into the distance.
The desire to use fi lm references to create
emphasis is of such importance that in the scene
that introduces Mr Haraldsson a reference is made
to the tale of Eadweard Muybridge carrying out Eadweard Muybridge carrying out Eadweard Muybridgethe fi rst experiments that led to the creation of
cinema through the experiment he carried out in
San Francisco in which he used many consecutive,
still photos of a horse trotting to show that a
succession of still images could emulate movement,
a discovery that led to the birth of cinema.
V O N L E N S K A27
MUSICAL REFERENCES
Music is also an important part of the fi lm.
In fact, the title Vonlenska is the name given
by the group Sigur Ros to their invented
language. It’s a language made up of phonetic
sounds that don’t make any sense or mean
anything, with the idea that the ‘lyrics’ of songs
sung in this ‘language’ take on the meaning
that they suggest to the listener. This is similar
to the idea behind the fi lm, in which almost
nothing seems to happen but it nevertheless
takes on the meaning that the viewer gives to it.
Sigur Ros and Radiohead (who also feature
in the soundtrack) are groups which, through
their relaxing, temporally prolonged melodies,
their slow rhythms and their serious notes,
complement the fi lm’s calm and serene
ambience very well.
To listen to Sigur Ros: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=YEniWGLcWOk
To listen to Radiohead: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Ih4bm-91Wq4
To listen to Garota d’Ipanema: http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=aQ7Xwl8dIzQ
Another musical reference is the song Garota d’Ipanema, whose lyrics are by Vinícius de
Moraes and its music by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
It appears as a counterpoint in one particular
moment in the fi lm, with its warm, Caribbean
rhythms, heard at a point when the characters
are drunk, serving as a parenthesis that offsets
the cold lives of the main characters.
V O N L E N S K A28
LITERARY REFERENCES
There are also some literary references due to the fact that Haraldsson (and also his late wife) was once a poet and is now an avid reader of poetry.
The other literary reference is to Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry book Illuminations, a result
of Haraldsson having been a professor of
French literature; the poem A Winter Dream
holds a strong connection with Haraldsson’s life
situation at the moment when he reads it.
The fi rst literary reference is to Herman
Melville’s Moby Dick, which serves as a Moby Dick, which serves as a Moby Dickpretext to bring in the whale-watching trip and
to talk about Kristjana, who was a university
professor and an expert on Melville.
Arthur Rimbaud
V O N L E N S K A29
FIRST SCENE FROM THE SCREENPLAYACT ONE
1. EXT. NIGHT. REYKJAVÍK STREETS.
Alec walks through the snowy streets of Reykjavik. It is also currently snowing. He is carrying a backpack and is much more under-dressed than the only two people he passes by. It seemsas though he's not heading in any particular direction. The way he looks at things suggests it's the first time he has seen them. Violin music can be heard (coming from nearby apartment block). Alec stops, trying to work out where the music is coming from. He quickly sees it's from an apartment block with three balconies (the inside of the ground floor and the second flat are lit up, but not the third one). A sign hangs from the second flat's balcony that says "TO LET". A woman (Eir), bathed in a warm light, can be seen walking past the window of the second flat.
2. INT. NIGHT. IN EIR'S FLAT
(We don't clearly see the faces Of the characters in this scene at any point; they are only seen in profile or from behind) Eir is just wearing a very fine t-shirt with straps, underwear and socks. She walks on tip toes to avoid making noise. She goes up some steps that lead up to a study, and begins to watch a man (Ian) who is in the corner of the room, playing a violin. He doesn't notice her watching.
3. EXT. NIGHT. REYKJAVÍK STREETS
Alec takes a book out of his backpack in which he writes down the street and the number of the flat for rent, then tears out the sheet of paper and puts it in his pocket. He puts the book
V O N L E N S K A30
away and carries on walking until he reaches a square. Thesquare is surrounded with trees. In the middle of the square there is a statue and a phone box. Alec stops and then heads towards the phonebox. He goes in.
4. INT. NIGHT. BOX
Alec leaves his backpack on the floor in the phonebox. He spends a couple of moments looking outside, watching the falling snow.
There is a shelf under the phone with an empty bottle of Brennivin on it. He picks it up, brings it close to his nose, sniffs it and then quickly puts it back where he found it. He opens and closes his fists as though he is exercising his hands. He looks at the list of international prefixes and starts to dial a number that he knows by heart. He accidently presses two numbers at a time because he is wearing gloves. He hangs up the receiver, takes off the glove on his right hand and then dials the whole number. The first dial tone sounds. Nervous with anticipation, he hangs up the receiver, hurriedly picks up his bag and leaves the phonebox.
5. EXT. NIGHT. BOX.
Alec walks purposefully, with the single goal of getting away from the phone box, but then he suddenly stops, turns around and heads back towards the phone.
6. INT. NIGHT. BOX
Now, and with less of a ritual than the first time, he takes off his gloves once more and dials the number that he knows off by heart. We hear the ringing tone until a voice answers
V O N L E N S K A31
GRACEHello?
ALECIt's me.
GRACE(Silence)
ALEC(Silence)
GRACEWhere are you? I can hear someone whistling.
ALECI'm in Reykjavík.
GRACEReykjavík?
ALECYes.
GRACE(Silence)
ALECBefore I left, I took a map and drew a line on it. From your house Reykjavik is the furthest point from you.
(In the phone box, under the list of international prefixes, there is a map of
V O N L E N S K A32
the world. Whilst he talks Alec draws an imaginary line with his finger from New Zealand to Iceland.)
GRACEBut...
ALECNo, if you think about it, just by going a few kilometres from here, just by going to the next town, I would be a little closer to you again. The number of kilometres would start to go down, and then if I got on an aeroplane we wouldn't be as far away as we are now.
GRACEYeah, maybe.
ALECI know that we said we wouldn't call each other.
GRACE(Silence)
ALECThat it would be unfair on the other person.
GRACEWhy all the whistling?
V O N L E N S K A33
ALECIt's the wind. I'm on my own, in a phone box outside.
GRACE(Silence)
ALECBefore I decided to call you, I thought about what you said to me once, about your grandmother. Do you remember? About how she didn't like it when she was doing things and the phone sounded, and she had to stop everything to concentrateon what the person was saying, without having a choice about it.And, on top of that, if it was about something important, the other person had the advantage of having been able to think about what they wanted to say, the best way to say it, the best arguments and the best time of day for them to call, while maybe she, at that very moment, was holding the phone with washing-up gloves covered in soap.
GRACEYou're right, I did tell you that.
ALEC
V O N L E N S K A34
But I don't want this to be like that. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to.
GRACE(Silence)
ALECWhy don't you write to me sometime?
GRACE(Silence)
ALECI'd like to get a letter from you. I could put it in my pocket and read it as many times as I wanted. It'd be like talking on the phone, only insilence.
GRACEWhy did you call me if you don't mind if I don't talk?
ALECI don't know. Maybe because often during the day I think about what you must be doing, if you're at the cinema, sunbathing on the balcony, or cooking, or whatever... But in the endit's just what I imagine, and knowing that you have the phone to your ear is the most real thing about you that I can have.
V O N L E N S K A35
GRACEAlec, I have to go, okay?
ALEC(Silence)
GRACEOne thing.
ALECYes?
GRACE...no, nothing... Don't ever go outside without a coat.
ALECWill you write to me?
GRACE...I don't know...