Cinema
When the Raven Flies
Hrafninn flýgur
Hrafn Gunnlaugsson · 1984
Synopsis
As a child, an Irishman sees Norwegian Vikings kill his parents during a raid and carry off his sister. Twenty years later, the man known only as Gestur lands in Iceland, where two of these former raiders live, adoptive brothers, each at the head of his men. To take revenge and find his sister, he sows mistrust between them; but his sister, now a Christian and the wife of one of them, does not support his undertaking.
Context
The project was first meant to bring Gerpla, by Halldór Laxness, to the screen, but Laxness advised against the undertaking; the director and the Swedish producer Bo Jonsson then wrote an original story, drawing on the sagas. Co-produced by Viking Film, the Swedish Film Institute and the Icelandic Film Centre, and shot in Icelandic, the film was released on 4 February 1984 and went to the Berlinale the following year. It opens the Raven trilogy, which two other films continue, one around 1988, the other in 1991.
Who it is for
Nearly two hours, in Icelandic; screened again at the Lincoln Center in New York in 2012 and at the Toronto festival in 2019.
Prizes and reception
Best Direction award at the Swedish Guldbagge; submitted by Iceland to the Academy, which did not retain it among the nominees.