Summerlight… and then comes the night

Based on Icelandic author Jon Kalman Stefansson's eponymous bestseller, there is now the beautiful film adaptation of Summerlight... And Then Comes the Night. Director Elfar Adalsteins reworked the novel into a loosely shifting four-part film revolving around characters who are each searching for meaning. Because in this rural Icelandic village, so small that it has neither a church nor a cemetery, there is more going on behind the front doors than you might suspect.

For instance, the owner of a textile mill decides overnight to devote himself to the study of astronomy and philosophy. A farmer starts an affair with his neighbour's wife. A policeman would like his son to follow in his footsteps and two lonely souls seek solace with each other. As the title suggests, it is a film like life itself: tragic one moment, uplifting the next.