XL
Directed by:
Marteinn ThorssonScreenplay:
Marteinn ThorssonCinematography:
Bergsteinn BjörgúlfssonCast:
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, María Birta Bjarnadóttir, Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, Elma Lísa Gunnarsdóttir, Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir, Þráinn Bertelsson (more)Plots(1)
Deputy Leifur is a total wreck. An inveterate drinker, glutton, and womanizer, his family has fallen apart and he almost never sees his daughter. He shrouds the present in an impenetrable alcoholic haze, and dissolves his past in a succession of severe hangovers. Leifur is living one huge party in a constant desire to see the bottom of another bottle and denuded female loins. After he causes a public scandal, the prime minister forces him to seek treatment. So it’s time to throw a farewell party, a real humdinger.… Director Marteinn Þórsson isn’t aiming at a psychological study or even a hefty drama. Instead he offers his audiences caricatured sketches of his characters, relying on strong stylization and hyperbole. The unique, seemingly disorganised narrative form contributes to the harrowing viewing experience: XL supplies a steady stream of highly expressive sequences which project fragments of a depraved world inhabited by burnt-out losers and hyenas. And Leifur just hangs there, inert, at the center of the action, fully possessed by his alcoholic demons. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
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Reviews (3)
An Icelandic drama about a chauvinistic obese pig who has money and charisma and can afford a lot of girlfriends and wild parties. At the beginning of the film, the anti-hero is advised to have alcohol addiction treatment, to which he responds with even wilder parties with even more perverse sex. Fragments of a random, incoherent plot are lost in epileptic collages of alcohol parties, naked bodies and memories of the past. I appreciate the directing and the intelligent screenplay full of sophisticated dialogues, but unfortunately they do not lead to any point.
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An alcoholic trip into the hell of the inner self, in which you have no idea what is, what was, and what is in name only. The film has its strong moments, especially when the protagonist is accounting for his own relationship with his daughter, but there is also a severe hangover at the end. You get a headache and a little stomachache, but then you grab a coffee and in a few hours it's gone.
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Too much of a good thing? Not quite! Watching a 150-kilo Norwegian guy get systematically trashed for an hour and a half? Why not :). Alternating between psychedelic and oddly entertaining, this was a pretty fun ride. 70%.
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