When the Light Breaks
One day under the Icelandic summer sun changes a young art student's life in this quietly powerful drama that premiered in the Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes.
Please note the film does not have English dialogue or subtitles!
The abundant light is one of the defining features of Nordic summers. After long, dark winters, we get to bathe in it from early morning until late at night.
Icelandic art students Una (Elín Hall) and Diddi (Baldur Einarsson) are smoking pot on the beach, enjoying the sunset and each other’s company. They appear to be an ordinary, deeply in-love young couple. It turns out that Diddi has a girlfriend, Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir), but tomorrow is the day he plans to leave Klara and officially begin a relationship with Una. The head-over-heels lovebirds cautiously plan the future in the late hours of the night.
A new day brings an unexpected tragedy that wrecks life. The camera follows young Una over the course of a day as she experiences the longest day of her life so far. Beneath her restrained exterior, emotions attempt to take control of her time after time.
Festival favourite Rúnar Rúnarsson (Echo, R&A 2020; Sparrows, R&A 2016) opened the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival last year with When the Light Breaks. The Icelandic director once again manages to create something monumental from small elements—something that lingers in memory long after the film has ended. Subtle and delicate, the film is as tender and exquisite as young love itself, and Elín Hall’s hauntingly beautiful performance is the heart of it.
Santtu Nikula (translated by Kati Ilomäki)
Part of the tickets to the Vuotalo screening are sold through Vuotalo’s own ticket sales channels.
Trailer
Collaboration
