Life in a Fishbowl

LIFE IN A FISHBOWL, Iceland’s submission for the 2015 Oscar®, is a searing indictment of Icelandic society prior to the country’s financial collapse in 2008. As three people circle around like fish in the wet, grey, neon-lit otherworld that is Reykjavik in the winter, their stories are ingeniously woven together. In fact, the capital city is a small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business. A young single mother who can’t get by on her salary as a kindergarten teacher works nights as a call girl. A prickly famous author drinks himself nearly to death following the drowning of his daughter. A handsome ex-soccer star, recruited to the world of high finance, becomes increasingly uneasy with morally questionable deals. As the nooses tighten around everyone’s necks, it’s clear something will have to give. But a glimmer of hope comes from the realization that life is easier when we denizens of the fishbowl swim together. (In Icelandic with subtitles) – B.B.