Many a bereaved child has wished for more time with their dearly departed parent; however for Anna (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir, The Big Rescue), seeing that desire fulfilled is not without its challenges. Not long after the actress is weeping as her boyfriend, Ingi (Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), pens a eulogy for her recently deceased father, Ofeig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’s Þórhallur Sigurðsson, better known as Icelandic entertainer Laddi), she is welcoming his ghostly form back into the family home he was born in and doesn’t want her to sell.
That Anna’s theatrical efforts often span matters of the occult means Ingi is sceptical of their new predicament at first, but the tell-tale signs – first noises and moved items, then a piano playing by itself, and finally Ofeig’s spectral form – continue to mount. As Icelandic comedy Spooks and Spirits (Ófeigur gengur aftur) unravels, the paternal beyond-the-grave presence combines with an amusingly rendered consideration of maturing and moving on. Bumps and jumps furnish plenty of sight gags and slapstick gaffes, as do ample supernatural tropes of the expected variety, with the reality of a progeny outgrowing their originator providing the slightest trace of a more dramatic thrust.
Neither element – the humorous haunting, or the quarter-life coming-of-age – is new, nor is it treated as such; the supporting components of domestic disharmony and growing old disgracefully are similarly routine. Each and every comparable film from a wealth of analogous offerings bears recollection as writer/director Ágúst Guðmundsson’s (Ahead of Time) effort goes through the motions, and doesn’t try to hide its derivation. The checklist is evident, and easily marked off: corporeal possession and exorcism measures, seeking independence and struggling with setbacks, in-law hijinks and relationship crises, and an abundance of incidences of imposing on offspring and acting in an age-inappropriate manner.
In execution as in narrative, everything follows the standard, always with silliness rather than seriousness in mind. Performances can’t stop their descent into over-the-top territory, some – Sigurðsson, of course – purposely so, others seemingly just going along with the pervading vibe. Any chance that Kristjánsdóttir and Garðarsson had of balancing his histrionics lapses as the feature repeatedly values his outlandish antics. Indeed, it is the flippant tone that Guðmundsson seems most concerned about, anything more thoughtful from the theme of growing up and moving on quickly eclipsed by spooky happenings.
Only the aesthetic – muted like the setting, rather than the content – betrays the attempt to induce a fun and frivolous mood. The special effects languish in the middle, whether by design or budget restraints it is not quite clear, appearing as if they’ve stepped out of a film decades older. Accordingly, there’s little but appreciation for undying adherence to family-friendly horror-comedy convention that emanates from Spooks and Spirits. Perhaps oft-quoted online statistics about Icelanders’ belief in all things otherworldly helps bridge the gap in its native context, but any affection afforded the average end product is culturally specific.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Spooks and Spirits (Ófeigur gengur aftur)
Director: Ágúst Guðmundsson
Iceland, 2013, 92 mins
Scandinavian Film Festival
www.scandinavianfilmfestival.com
Canberra: 8 – 20 July – Palace Electric
Sydney: 9 – 27 July – Palace Verona & Palace Norton St
Melbourne: 10 – 27 July – Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay
Brisbane: 11 – 20 July – Palace Centro
Adelaide : 23 – 31 July – Palace Nova Eastend
Perth: 24 – 30 July – Cinema Paradiso
Byron Bay: 25 – 30 July – Palace Byron Bay
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