Movie "Metalhead" (Málmhaus)
— 7/10
"Metalhead" ("Málmhaus") is a film about a family drama, which happened in a small Icelandic village. The tragic death of the eldest son (who was a metalhead) led the family members to the separation from each other and to the deterioration of relations between them. Each of relatives finds his own way to numb the emotional pain of the bitter loss.
The main heroine of the film is the younger sister of the dead boy, who hides her grief, immersed in the metal world of the deceased brother. The film's creators do not directly tell how many years passed after the tragedy, however, we can assume that after the accident, it took about 9 years. Noticeably grown-up heroine vainly tries to leave the village and go into town. The Director seeks to show rebellious behavior of difficult "teenager", who with her illogical, often aggressive actions, is trying to reach out to adults.The idea and objectives of the movie are very clear, but their realization raises some questions. One of the main disputed points of the film is the selection of actors, because of which a misunderstanding of what is happening in the scene occurs. We're noting, that the actors in the movie played well, but a significant difference in age between the them and young characters, is very noticeable. Because of this the girl's actions raise doubts about her mental health. Things, that in principle can be attributed to stupidity and ignorance of youth (in the film the girl should be from about 19 to 21 years), it is difficult to correlate with the appearance of adult actress, who plays the role of Metalhead.
Today you can find in movies many examples where the young characters are performed by adult actors, but thanks to make-up artists and retouchers, the age difference is not so striking. In the case of "Metalhead" you can only believe that hysterical behavior is belonged to young girl and the whole reason of it is her youth. So for me personally it was very hard to continue watching the first half of the film, because of annoying inadequate actions of "young" woman in the Judas Priest or Slayer's t-shirt. Also, get ready for the fact that the first 30 or 40 minutes of the movie may seem slow. "Metalhead" began to arouse interest in its second part, when the girl discovered black metal. Familiarity with a new genre has allowed the heroine to vent the pain and suffering in music and I guess true and evil viewers will certainly appreciate her experiments.
The second half of the film is not without a strange and reckless behavior of an adult child, but this part is accompanied by the gloomy atmosphere of black metal, due to which, surprisingly, the girl will be able to reach out to her relatives, to encourage them to open dialogue and, thereby, to unite. The religion topic also is mentioned in the movie. It is represented by ex-neformal priest and is shown as the key moral bulwark of the village and the support for its local residents. By the way, watching not the first feature film about metalheads, the religion or its representatives, one way or another were involved in every movie.
Briefly about the main
In general, "Metalhead" is a good movie that clearly is not focused on a wide audience. The film's title and the girl with corpsepaint on the poster should arouse the interest of metalheads, who will wait for more music and attributes to provide an appropriate atmosphere in the movie. However, at first the target audience will be immersed in a family conflicts, which are the main theme of "Metalhead". You have to be prepared for the fact that the music is only a secondary part in portraying characters, that's why heavy riffs with extreme vocal performed by girl metalhead you will hear just a few minutes for an hour and a half. Instead you will watch a heavy drama that raises important questions about how to survive the loss of loved ones and do not give a grief themselves offspring without reserve. Good acting, perfectly conveys the atmosphere of provincial life in the beautiful views of Iceland, create depressing mood in which creating black metal music by heroine was shown.
By Anastezia
Photo: facebook.com/metalheadfilm