Review by Alana Odegard, photo courtesy of Reykjavík Films.

Dawn breaks over the serene Icelandic countryside. An elderly hunter and his trusty dog ready themselves for the first morning flight of the geese. A bullet is fired but the shot that rings out does not come from his gun. The hunter has become the hunted.

The attack comes from all directions, making it impossible to locate the shooter. A brief chase ensues and the old man finds himself on his back, helplessly staring up the slender barrel of a shotgun.

An execution-style murder and the six-person-strong Violent Crime Unit in Reykjavík has limited leads to follow. No footprints. No clues save for the “trophy” bit of material carefully cut from the victim’s jacket. And of course the knowledge of the murder’s weapon of choice; a shotgun used to kill at point blank range. The stage is set for an attention-grabbing thriller.

I Hunt Men (Icelandic title: Mannaveidar), directed by Björn B. Björnsson, follows two detectives as they attempt to track down a serial killer who has a penchant for murdering goose hunters. The four-episode murder mystery series (170 min.) is based on the popular novel Daybreak by Icelandic crime-writer Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson and was adapted for the screen by Sveinbjörn I. Baldvinsson.

At the center of I Hunt Men is a staple to the TV and film crime genre: the classically mismatched police partners. Much to his chagrin, the straight-laced and by-the-book detective Hinrik (played by Gísli Örn Gardarsson), is paired up with Gunnar, a disheveled looking detective who speaks his mind and gets the job done.

The partner match-up, or rather mismatch, may be predictable, but Ólafur Darri Ólafsson gives a great performance as Gunnar and seems to play the part with ease. As a result, Gunnar comes across as genuine, unapologetic and very likable.

Gunnar’s insatiable appetite for junk-food snacks and his permanently untucked (and crumb-laden) shirt contrasts Hinrik’s tailored black coats, fitted sweaters, and his reserved, often overly dramatic, demeanor.

The dynamic between this odd couple is brilliantly summed up by Emil, an author pal Gunnar occasionally seeks out for advice. During one of their encounters, Emil tells Gunnar, “I need interesting cops [to write about] but I’m obviously in the wrong country. There’s no way to make you interesting. You have the personality of a goldfish. You still live with your mother and Hinrik gets an orgasm from ironing his pants.”

By the end of episode one, the interest in finding out who the murderer is becomes secondary to watching the drama, as well as the humor, play out on-screen.

As with any television crime series, comparisons will always be made to the slews of American crime shows currently on the air such as 24, Law & Order or any of the offshoots under the CSI umbrella. Although it is tempting to hold up a crime series such as I Hunt Men to the formulaic look and feel of these popular American shows, it would be futile to do so.

For starters, even the simple detail of story location would come up short if compared to one of the American shows. Rather than taking place in the streets of a major metropolis such as New York, as many of the crime shows do, the murders in I Hunt Men take place in Iceland, a country ranked as the most peaceful on the 2008 Global Peace Index.

Granted the murders are taking place in the countryside and not downtown Reykjavík, the willing suspension of disbelief is rendered slightly more challenging than if the killings were occurring in the rough and tumble big city streets of America, where the murder that is depicted on-screen is believed to be a part of daily life.

Nevertheless, I Hunt Men surprisingly addresses the inevitable comparison that many will make to the other crime shows by tackling it head-on with an exchange of dialogue at a police department meeting. When Gunnar’s theories about the killer are discounted by his co-workers he is told that he has “seen too many American cop shows.” Gunnar responds to this accusation in the affirmative adding that the killer has probably seen just as many as he.

This bit of dialogue somewhat spares the show from being viewed through the lens of a production that is trying to pass itself off as one of the network crime shows. The risk of I Hunt Men being perceived as adhering to the American crime series road-map, something it clearly could never be (nor should it), is temporarily defused. With this, one can relax and begin to more easily appreciate the series for its own unique style and what it can contribute to the genre.

In terms of the look of the series, among the most visually stunning moments of the episodes are the juxtapositions of the wide-angle and aerial shots of both nature and cityscapes. The aerial shots of the city’s apartment buildings lined up row after row reveal hidden courtyards only fully visible from the air.

Reykjavík is seen in a new light, even in the dark of night. The yellow glow of the city lights against the black night sky fits well with the tone of the episodes.

Shots taken from the air outside of the city showcase the winding black highway cutting its way through the vivid orange, brown and green moss-covered landscape that stretches out to the horizon. Images like these play like tourism advertisements for Iceland.

The great outdoors even finds its way into many of the interior scenes as well. The camera is cleverly set up to capture the view from the oversized windows of most of the apartments ensuring that a mountain or ocean-view is always visible in one way or another.

Despite a few of the storylines that seem to be irrelevant to the story being told on-screen, I Hunt Men is an entertaining series. The titles which alert the viewer of each passing weekday during the on-going investigation do not add the effect of suspense and “deadline-countdown” which may have been their intent.

Rather, because the series is in four parts, one gets lost in the titles as it becomes too confusing to follow.

However, the twists and turns of the plot are enough to keep viewers interested, and the moments of comedic relief are enjoyable. The series was incredibly popular in Iceland (60 percent of the nation tuned in when it aired on TV).

Because the series first aired in March of 2008—before the collapse of the Icelandic banking industry—there are a few instances that hit on strikingly relevant topics in the aftermath of the recent economic freefall in Iceland. One such example appears in the character of the wealthy banker who exudes haughtiness and under questioning behaves as slippery as his slicked back hair.

Gunnar’s defense for his “unconventional” interviewing tactics ring true for many in Iceland these days; “Should I talk to him differently just because he lives in a tower and makes more in a month than we do in a year?” Today this line so perfectly hits the mark that it’s enough to induce a wince from an Icelandic viewer.

The humorous references to rivalry between Reykjavík and the smaller towns of Akureyri and Keflavík, the reference to Icelandic fundamentals like hardfiskur (dried fish) and skyr (special Icelandic yogurt) and the inclusion of Reykjavík’s familiar downtown haunts were no doubt picked up on and appreciated by the Icelandic audience; a factor that may have played a role in the series’ popularity.

Apart from the moments when events become a little too The Bourne Identity-esque, at times teetering on the edge of taking on too much material and unnecessary back-story, I Hunt Men is a distinctly Icelandic production that tackles some major issues of substance and should not go unnoticed.

I Hunt Men was published on DVD with English subtitles in 2008. Click here to watch the trailer and here to buy a copy.

AO – odegard_a@hotmail.com

Ready and willing to watch and devour anything that comes her way, Alana has a thirst for film that she has been unable (and unwilling) to quench since childhood. Alana studied film as part of her Bachelor of Arts degree in Canada. These years of study were a delightfully satisfying period in her life which allowed her to eat, sleep and breathe the motion picture art form.

As the story so often goes, Alana is tirelessly trying to find ways to surround herself with the enchanting world of film, a passion she hopes will one day spill over from the realm of pastime to likewise envelop the day-job world of fulltime as well.

She is currently assisting on an exciting film project in Reykjavík—the first of what she hopes will be many, many more.