Sealing new truths: Film adaptation as cultural capstone for 101 Reykjavík

Abstract

When fiction introduces controversial new perspectives, the novel and its film adaptation can play different roles in a cultural discussion. In the wake of globalization and Generation X, the novel 101 Reykjavík (Helgason [1996] 2002) suggested a sex-obsessed slacker identity that most Icelanders rejected or ignored. A later film adaptation (Kormákur, 2000) cut the sharpest edges off the story’s postmodern critique, lessened the protagonist’s immorality, made the narrative more conventional and offered an ending with communal reunification. The film’s success led Icelanders to revaluate not only the novel’s message but their own identity. 101 Reykjavík became the new truth about young Icelanders in the 1990s. This combination of a disputatious novel and a more conciliatory film adaptation is not uncommon with Nordic fiction. For socially ambitious filmmakers, retelling contentious stories in a form more fit for mass consumption can help them bring audiences and nations from old truths to new.