1

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...