Iceland is known for its sunless winters and scenes that bounce from dark autumn Iceland to bright sunny Florida. Within this exaggerated the isolation of Iceland, we get see how much the citizens were missing. Baldvin Zophoniasson delivers a different perspective of Iceland in Life in a Fishbowl. Based in the gloomy backdrop of the counties 2008 economic crash, it centres itself around three characters whose lives externally contrast each other's but internally mirror one another's struggles.
The third character Solvi acts as the catalyst to the events of the movie, a former football star turned big time banker, Solvi engages with the gluttonous and hedonistic lifestyle of his colleagues. In what could have easily been executed as lazy stereotypes director and writer make effort to paint humanity to the most archetypal characters.
Some could argue there was lack of creativity in the creation of characters such as a single mother who turns to prostitution. But there's enough depth and great acting to transcend from the danger of falling into caricatures. There was a natural and realistic progression to the story which is due to the writer being influenced by true stories of the economic crash.
The characters double lifestyle mirror the build up to the financial crisis of the country, Eik and Mori attempt to proceed with their lives without facing the issues in them, Solvi finds it easier to deny the evidence in his financial analysis than face them. They mirror the country's ignorance to its uprising crisis until it was too late, proving neither man nor machine can cope with undiluted pressure.
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