Today, as part of this week's Taste of Iceland festivities (which also featured Jakobinarina at Velvet Lounge but no actual food events from what I can gather, so why it wasn't called "The Sound of Iceland"-beats me) you get to see Sigur Ros' "stupidly gorgeous" tour movie Heima at E street.
The movie follows everyone's favorite Icelandic band as they played a slew of suprise free shows in their homeland, in the most unexpected of places (abandoned herring factories, small town parks, coffee shops, and teeny tiny community halls). The idea was (as the amazingly beautiful trailer will tell you-see below) to literally offer their music back to the land that allowed it to happen in the first place.
The movie, whose title literally means "At Home" was shot by Dean deBlois and features live footage, interviews, photographic sequences of the countryscapes and people of Iceland they meet along the way. It is literally a love letter from the band to its country and every Sigur Ros' wet dream.
The movie does not have any US official theatrical release dates so you should go see it tonight and feel special because
a. we are the only ones in the US that get to see it now before it gets its DVD release (please note the dates below, added helpfully by Carri, in case you live in LA or around)
b. the said DVD release has been just pushed back two weeks to November 20th so the wait for all you rabid Sigur Ros Fans out there becomes even longer (the album is still dropping on November 5th, as planned)
if this isn't motivation enough: embrace the trailer. and maybe even find someone to hold you while you watch it since it is that breathtaking:
official site: http://emichrysalis.co.uk/sigurros/heima/film/
event details here: http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/events/film-screening-sigur-ros-heima-e-street/
God loves a cheerful giver.
"a. we are the only ones in the US that get to see it now before it gets its DVD release"
actually. it played twice in nyc on saturday. as a part of the brilliant new yorker festival. sigur ros also played acoustic sets before each screening. and holy s*** it was breathtaking. of course.
the film also screened in baltimore. it will be screening in la on november 2nd - also with an acoustic set by the band.
you are totally right - it was literally a love letter from the band to their country - and also every sigur ros fan's wet dream. very, very true. i'm still glowing.
the baltimore one was also part of the whole "taste of iceland" bonanza. and the new york ones already happened, so I felt they should not be listed.
but thank you for the LA heads up.
also-reviews have been mixed, if anyone has any opinons to voice-please do.
"also-reviews have been mixed, if anyone has any opinons to voice-please do."
oh no! say it isn't so!!!!!
yeah, sometimes i get a little too excited about things. i promise not to overreact if someone says they don't like them or they thought the movie was shite.
i was at the screening last night. the film was awash in sound and color, atmosphere and light. it was the next best thing to seeing the band live, and was a wonderful visual representation of the intimacy, mystery, beauty and sublime their music conjures. the theater would shake with sound then fall completely silent as the music went from crescendo to quiet. at the end of the credits the entire audience sat in complete silence and didnt move until a long moment after the screen went black. everyone was wow'ed.
despite the experience i probably wont buy the dvd...all the songs are already on their records, and while the interviews were nice and the visuals stunning, i found the power and experience of it all to be something that could only be best experienced on the big screen.
if you werent there, you really missed something special.