When The Light Breaks – grief(s) observed in this beautiful Icelandic character driven study (QFT until Thursday 29 May)

Una’s spending the night at Diddi’s student digs. But she’s tired of sneaking around. He’s getting up early to head back home to Reykjavík to tell his girlfriend Klara that their long-distance relationship is over. Una wakes up in his bed, brushes her teeth, escapes out the window to avoid his flatmate discovering their affair, and goes to college. News slowly breaks that there’s been a devasting multiple vehicle crash and Diddi may be involved.

When The Light Breaks watches over a day as this young woman comes to terms with internally grieving for her first love while externally suppressing her true emotions. As a general rule of thumb, Icelandic films are always worth a punt. They tend to feature strong characters, in tense situations. Screenwriter and director Rúnar Rúnarsson doesn’t overcomplicate the story – or elongate the film’s duration – but instead lets the camera linger on Elín Hall’s expressive face (playing Una).

The awkwardness is explored, at first through a sense of personal grief greater than other friends (and supposedly secret from them), then extended through the presence and a closeness to official girlfriend Klara (played by Katla Njálsdóttir). As one person leaving my screening observed, “Diddi certainly had a type”: Una/Hall and Klara/Njálsdóttir could easily pass for sisters, facially so similar other than the style of their hair!

By the close of the film, more and more is left unsaid, leaving audiences free to imagine. Did Klara suspect Una was on the scene before she flew up to mourn? Has she since spotted Una’s familiarity with Diddi’s life? Does she find solace in being around someone else who knew him so well? You decide!

Grief is always hard to gauge. Difficult to define or predict. When The Light Breaks spends 24 hours in the life of students discovering how they will react. Well worth catching at Queen’s Film Theatre before Thursday 29 May.

 

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