09/12/2009

Icelandic director Dagur Kari’s third feature, The Good Heart [+see also:
trailer
film profile], was presented as part of the Official Competition at the Les Arcs European Film Festival, currently underway in the French Alpine resort.

After his debut feature Noi, the Albino, a black tragicomedy set in Iceland, and his playful, Denmark-set black-and-white feature Dark Horse [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the French-born Icelandic director set his third film in New York, where a suicidal homeless young man, Lucas (Paul Dano, from There Will Be Blood), befriends Jacques (Brian Cox, Troy), a cantankerous bar owner without friends or family who is looking for an heir for his dingy neighbourhood bar.

Lucas and Jacques meet at a hospital when they end up sharing a room after Lucas’ suicide attempt and Jacques’ fifth heart attack. Jacques immediately decides that the troubled youth would be the perfect successor for him, so he takes him in to teach him the ropes. Jacques, who has his own take on running a bar, instils the most important rules, including the fact that walk-ins are never served, and brewing a cup of coffee should take exactly 24 seconds.

Kari derives most of the humour from the odd ways of the irascible old man, played to perfection (and with evident relish) by Brian Cox. Dano, as his foil, is a clueless young man who slowly asserts himself, greatly aided by his strong feelings for a French stewardess (Isild Le Besco) who is afraid of flying.

The film will be released early next year in Iceland, and will also be distributed in 2010 by Le Pacte in France.

The Zik Zak Filmworks production was co-produced by Danish outfit Nimbus Film and France’s Ex Nihilo, with backing from Eurimages and the Nordic Film & TV Fund. Wild Bunch handles international sales.