Reykjavík-Rotterdam is an Icelandic film

Cinema of Iceland

Iceland has a notable cinema film industry. There are many actors to list who have caught international attention. The most famous film, and the only one to be nominated for the Oscar and European film awards, is Children of nature, directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson...

 directed by Óskar Jónasson

Óskar Jónasson

Óskar Jónasson is an Icelandic film director and screenwriter. His film Remote Control was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival...

 and starring Baltasar Kormákur

Baltasar Kormákur

Baltasar Kormákur is an Icelandic actor, theater and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films 101 Reykjavík, Hafið, A Little Trip to Heaven , and a film based on the book Mýrin by Arnaldur Indriðason...

.

Plot synopsis

Like a fish on a dry land, Kristofer is stuck in a dull everyday routine, working as a security guard

Security guard

A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...

. He got fired from the freight ship he worked on, when he was caught smuggling

Smuggling

Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...

 alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

. Faced with money

Money

Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...

 problem

Problem

A problem is an obstacle, impediment, difficulty or challenge, or any situation that invites resolution; the resolution of which is recognized as a solution or contribution toward a known purpose or goal...

s, he is tempted to accept the help of his friend, Steingrimur, who manages to pull some strings to get his old job back. He decides to take his chances one last time on a tour to Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

Release

The film was released on October 3, 2008. It was broadcast (dubbed in German) on German television ARD

ARD (broadcaster)

ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...

 on 1 January 2010.

Reception

Reykjavík-Rotterdam is one of the biggest-budget Icelandic films of all-time, and features an all-star cast of Icelandic cinema

Cinema of Iceland

Iceland has a notable cinema film industry. There are many actors to list who have caught international attention. The most famous film, and the only one to be nominated for the Oscar and European film awards, is Children of nature, directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson...

. The film garnered a four-star rating from Morgunblaðið

Morgunblaðið

Morgunblaðið is a newspaper published in Iceland, founded by Vilhjálmur Finsen & Olaf Björnsson, brother to the first president. The first issue, only eight pages long, was published on 2 November 1913. Six years later, in 1919, the corporation Árvakur bought out the company...

, and has a 'fresh' rating of 8.2/10 at Rottentomatoes.com.

The film won five Edda Award

Edda Award

The Edda Award is an accolade bestowed by The Icelandic Film and Television Academy , and is the most prominent film and television award in Iceland...

s, including best script, director, editing, sound, and music:

• Director of the year – Óskar Jónasson
  Óskar Jónasson
  Óskar Jónasson is an Icelandic film director and screenwriter. His film Remote Control was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival...
  
  
• Screenplay of the year – Arnaldur Indriðason
  Arnaldur Indriðason
  Arnaldur Indriðason is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years — topping bestseller lists year after year...
  
   and Óskar Jónasson
• Editor of the year – Elísabet Rónaldsdóttir
• Sound design of the year – Kjartan Kjartansson and Ingvar Lundberg
• Achievement in music for film or television – Barði Jóhannsson
  Barði Jóhannsson
  Bardi Johannsson is an Icelandic rock musician, film composer, writer, TV show host , author, clothing designer, film director and more...
  
  

An Icelandic Film and Television Academy committee chose Reykjavík-Rotterdam to be Iceland's submission to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...

 for the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, though it failed to receive an Oscar nomination.

Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

, after a 2010 screening at the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Palm Springs International Film Festival

Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...

called it a "straightforward product from much of the team behind Baltasar Kormakur's considerably more eccentric Jar City

Jar City (film)

Jar City Jar City Jar City (Icelandic: Mýrin is a 2006 Icelandic film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. It is based on Mýrin, a novel written by Arnaldur Indriðason, released in English as Tainted Blood (also released in English as Jar City)....

" and an "uncommonly commercial item with brawny action, strokes of humor and a besieged rooting interest (played effectively by Kormakur."

Proposed remake

Working Title Films

Working Title Films

Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...

 is planning a U.S. remake starring Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...

, it will released as Contraband

Contraband (2012 film)

Contraband is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. The film is a remake of the Icelandic 2009 film Reykjavík-Rotterdam which Kormákur starred in...

. The original director, Óskar Jónasson

Óskar Jónasson

Óskar Jónasson is an Icelandic film director and screenwriter. His film Remote Control was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival...

, will be replaced by Baltasar Kormákur

Baltasar Kormákur

Baltasar Kormákur is an Icelandic actor, theater and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films 101 Reykjavík, Hafið, A Little Trip to Heaven , and a film based on the book Mýrin by Arnaldur Indriðason...

, the original film's lead actor.