Reading about how this movie was made - 35mm film, low-budget, etc. - it seems as if the technical and commercial challenges overshadowed the matter of creating a compelling story.
The central character, Sigga, is a young poet in search of a new life in California. Her attempts to escape from the limited, if beautiful, confines of Iceland encounter opposition from her parents and support from her friends. There is much soul-searching, wandering - somewhat aimlessly - from place , and wistful music. But the film lacks any substantial drive or momentum so that the experience is of watching someone drifting. And how it all ends is unclear.
There are some quirky - or irritating - features here too, such as the guy who follows Sigga everywhere carrying a canoe for no obvious reason (if there is a non-obvious reason it is never explained), and the repeated chiming of a few slightly discordant notes.
Even the Icelandic landscape is not really used to great effect. I was expecting some long, lingering wide shots that would underpin the action, but the trajectory of the story is too diffuse to enable this to work.
There seems to be a likeable and memorable movie hidden somewhere in Iceland is Best, but unfortunately it did not manage to emerge this time.
(Viewed at the Reghed Centre Cinema, Cumbria, UK 21 October 2021)
