Alissa Simon Film CriticFor his sophomore feature, “Beautiful Beings,” playing in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama, Icelandic helmer-writer Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson returns to the subject of his prize-winning first feature “Heartstone” (2016): fraught adolescent friendships and difficult family lives.
In “Beautiful Beings,” a horrendously bullied youth forms a tentative rapport with a trio of tough outsiders. Together, the boys experiment with aggression and violence, but also learn about loyalty and love.The action is captured with a shooting style that blends naturalism and lyricism, using mostly first-time young actors.
To find his characters, Gudmundsson put out an open casting call across the country. “We wanted to get every kid in Iceland that has a dream of being in a film to show up.
A lot of kids auditioned and we managed to find our main cast,” he says. But creating the performances he wanted required work, Gudmundsson admits. “The rehearsal period was long.
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