I think it makes perfect sense that Icelanders think this movie is hilarious, because as an American, I thought the scenes with all the insults about stereotypical Americans hilarious. I love when folks can laugh at themselves!
Same in ireland, and i have to admit even though i dont believe in faeries , i still wouldnt mess with them. In our folklore they arent the winged sparkly things like disney but rather mischievious, and at times, rather vicious beings of the other realm
Absolutely, you also have the clootie trees and wells where you can leave or tie a ribbon or piece of clothing to a tree or near well of natural spring as a gift in order to ask for a wish, hope or healing to be granted. Also it is a custom to leave sauser of milk and bread when mooving to a new house or building to ensure that the fairy folk does no mischief and protects the house. The saying not to sleep on fairy mounds as you may be bespelled and taken to their underground kingdom. In the past children who were unwell were sometimes belived to be changeling, that was left by the fairies when the human child was taken. And lastly, one of the theories about the lyrics of Loch Lomond song, about the high road and long road is that it was belived that the souls of scots who passed in a foreign lands will be led back to Scotland by the fairy folk using underground tunnels (low roads). 😊 personally I enjoyed the movie, it was celebration of the eurovision phenomenon, it was fun. Great opportunity to get together with friends and enjoy, we have eurovision parties, as UK we get zero points which is very much a tradition 😂😂😂
Rachel Taylor and the Isle of Man. We have two fairy bridges, when you pass over the one on the road you’re meant to say hello to the little people as its bad luck not to. People leave gifts and wishes at both bridges. We also have fairy doors in a place called castletown
We enjoyed it! But we think Iceland needs to make an ordinance that forbids Americans from coming into bars where lives music is being played and yelling "PLAY JAJA DING-DONG!" They are absolutely going to do that 😃
Ha!! As an American, I can guarantee that will happen. It’s a catchy tune! On a serious note I would love to immigrate to Iceland. I think, as many Americans do, that unless the mad man we have in office is removed from power, my country will be intolerable to live in. So embarrassing.
I told my son that it would be wonderful to leave his pacifier for Santa to give to baby reindeer. He agreed and only asked one time about his pacifier. I couldn't believe it was so easy to break his attachment.
I’m American, and the making fun of Americans in the film was one of my favorite parts! Going to Starbucks and sitting in traffic is real life 😂😂😂 plus he poked so much fun at Europe it was a great equalizer.
When my sister was too old for her pacifier our grandma told her that she had to give it to the bear mama for her kids so that's the Bulgarian version of your elf story😉
I loved the movie, especially the music, and I'm glad you all and Iceland by and large is too! That story about giving up the pacifier for baby elves is too cute omg 😭😭😭 I think the Swedish names is bc Will Farrell's wife is Swedish (which is how he was first introduced to Eurovision a couple of decades ago), but it was still a strange writing decision
Yay! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie. Ah, ok. I didn't know that Will Farrell's wife is Swedish. I agree that it is a strange decision. Thanks for the comment.
I absolutely loved the movie! Having all my knowledge of Iceland mostly from your videos, and knowing nothing at all about Eurovision, I had no expectations before watching and so was pleasantly entertained. I really was just excited to see a movie set in Iceland! It's lovely to hear Gunnar's opinion as an Icelander and yours as well! The Husavik song was on replay in my head for days afterwards, it was so beautiful.
The depiction of Eurovision was accurate too - if you enjoyed it check out the contest itself! Everything from hamster wheels to angel wings to demon costumes was lifted from genuine acts.
dude is the epitome of chill. like a dude u can always kick it with. wish i had icelandic homies. btw the US stereotypes in the movie are pretty on point. embarrassing but true. wish we were a bit more respectful in our travels 😂
I thought the American bashing was completely warranted. We bash everyone in the world, but then wag the finger at those who return the favor. So yeah, I agree that there’s no reason to be offended by it.
exactly. They put the yellowish color in latin american places on movies and here are only contries with drugs and all that stuff so... it's funny to see american (and the wall of trump) showed as a joke.
This was a great reaction! I saw the film and immediately wondered "What do actual Icelanders think of this movie?" Surprisingly, this is only one of two videos that actually addresses this! Thank you!
Hi, love you guys! Haven't seen the movie but in regards to the comment about Icelanders being confused about the US & the way it's run..... a lot of us here are confused about that too ! 🙃
I literally never thought about Iceland in my entire 60 years until I saw this movie. Ferrell made Iceland, at least to me, feel like a very warm and comfortable place. Homey and welcoming. I had no idea how beautiful it was nor did I realize it was a big tourist destination. Now it is definitely my list of places to visit. The song written about Husivik makes the place feel like its everyone's hometown or at least wish that it were.
This was fun, thank you for the reaction video. It's funny that you mentioned America's Got Talent, which originated in the UK and was based on X Factor, which was based on Idol, which was based on ...the Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, as way of bringing together the countries of Europe around a "light entertainment programme". That reminded me that one of the reasons Eurovision is such a party night, is that up until the 90's the whole contest took place on Saturday night. So, icelanders watched the show early on Saturday night, then when downtown to the clubs. So, what changed in the 90's? Well, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, as more and more countires broke free from the Soviet Union, they wanted to show their independence and what better way than to join Eurovision? So, the number of countries participating kept increasing, until they set up semi-finals and it got split across three nights instead of one :) Oh, and I was hoping Gunnar would explain the Katiana-Keflavík joke! "Katiana is great! YES! AND she's from Keflavík!" Hahahaha :)
I am also an american who married an Icelander and lives here now as well :) I watched the movie with my husband too and we both enjoyed it. From what I have heard they used the name Sigrit because Sigrit Ericksdottir sounds like "Secret Ericksdottir" as a continuation of the running sister joke in the movie.
Thanks for introducing me to Daði Freyr. I've been watching all of his videos ever since. Hopefully he get's another chance at Eurovision once Covid is gone.
My love for this movie has really gotten me motivated currently to come visit and see Iceland. Plus my love for Viking culture. I hope to visit one day! Great video guys!
I have to say that the movie is like a "loveletter for the real Eurovision Song Contest" - and I can understand that not all U.S.-Americans are able to understand the deep meaning of the "Eurovision" ....because they don't know that big contest here in Europe. Fun fact: Iceland was set to win the contest in real life this year with the band Daði og Gagnamagnið - Think About Things
That’s funny, I live in the USA and I used the same tactic to get my daughter to give up her pacifier. I told her we had to hang it on a tree in our front yard so that the “binky fairy” could collect it to pass it on to other babies that needed it, since she was becoming a big girl she wouldn’t need it anymore. It worked like a charm ;) The next day we even went outside to see if the fairy 🧚♀️ had taken it away. She was so excited and never worried about her pacifier again.
You two are just too cute! 😍 I loved your video! I had to put my phone up to my ear to hear Gunnar though, which is hilariously expected I think, Icelandic and Americans having notoriously different styles (and volume) of communicating 😅. I think the movie is super fun and like you say, not to be taken too seriously. 🤗
A little Eurovision back story for those who aren't familiar. Eurovision started in 1956 as a means to unite Europe post WW2. It has featured many famous artists such as ABBA and Celine Dion. It is very Lgbtq-friendly (although Russia isn't happy about it) and the contest is sometimes jokingly referred to as the Gay Olympics.
I was wondering if you’d seen this movie. I came across it on Netflix and kept passing it up because it looked goofy in a bad way, but then I finally watched it. It was so fun, and had a good storyline, and was a pleasant distraction. I was sure they took liberties, and were exaggerating and botching Icelandic culture and language, but I wasn’t sure about what or where/when! 🤣 Now I know. I didn’t realize elves and fairies were part of Icelandic culture, either. I thought the part with Will Ferrell making fun Americans was hilarious! There always a smidgen truth to jokes which is what makes them funny. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. This movie was WAY better than the Will Ferrell movie that came out in January, Downhill. It was serious and sad and not funny at all. This move was the exact opposite: lighthearted, happy, funny... and I’m glad I watched it.
Thanks for the lovely comment and the video suggestion. Funny enough, I have been watching Icelandic films lately, so I will add that video idea to the list. Your research sounds so interesting.
I too wondered what Icelanders thought of this film. Granted, it’s Will Ferrell and it’s supposed to be comedy. I think he roasted just about every nationality in this film including Americans, which is well deserved. But I hope the rest of the world does not think that Ja Ja dingdong is an Icelandic song! Actually it was a very nice love letter to Iceland because it showed a lot of beautiful scenery. On the premise that any publicity is good publicity, I think it was a winner. At least there were no fermented shark jokes🤣
I learned about the Eurovision Song Contest from my German husband, and finally got to enjoy it while living in Turkey. I saw the clip for "Think About Things". It is quirky and fun!
Hi! I just watched and I think it was funny because I could understand all the local references to Icelandic culture but for example for a lot of people here in Mexico they just didn’t get it. I mean probably not even identity the soundtrack or the brothers joke . So I can’t say if I like the film or not because the thing I really like is the Icelandic culture. My fav joke was the Elfs killing the villain and making fun of 2008 economic issue. Like they laught about it and just take it as a silly film for have a good time on a wknd .
Eurovision is not in any way taken from a US show! It started around WWII to bring people from different countries together through music. It’s a beautiful concept really. I grew up with ESC and I thought he was going to mock it but in reality it was a love song to ESC 🥰 I watched some Interviews and Will Ferrell’s wife is Swedish so I think they mixed up the Nordic aspects a lot 😅 which people outside Scandinavia probably wouldn’t notice. This is a really sweet and non-roasting reaction video 🤗
I'm an American and I loved the movie. I thought it was hilarious tho I agree that they should have used Icelandic names and had better pronunciation. If I could visit your beautiful country I would but having a severe allergy to cold temperatures it would be too dangerous to visit. Living for your videos!🥰❤️❄️ Thank you for sharing all of Iceland with us.🐋❄️🌿❤️🤓
I learned about Eurovision Song Contest from my Finnish Daughter in law years ago and I learned from her that you can't take the actual contest too seriously so the movie was funny and I enjoyed it. Some of the inappropriate jokes I didn't enjoy but for the most part it was okay. (I'm American.) I hope that Icelanders didn't feel like they were being made fun of! Thanks for your videos! You do a great job.
We thought it was on par for a Will Ferrell movie (silly). We totally cracked up at all the elf bits. Especially the door slamming/knife bit toward the end. That and seeing some of our favorite Icelandic actors made it worth watching. :) Hope you’re well! Hello from Arizona, USA!
Will wanted Pierce as his father because he was so good looking! That’s what Will told Conan... I loved this movie but being American I missed the significance of the Eurovision performances in the movie. I spent days researching previous Eurovision acts to see what performances inspired the musical nods. It added a whole new level of appreciation and enjoyment for me. I loved this movie, actually I’m obsessed with it. Molly Sanden and Eric Mjones were just wonderful. My single favorite performances were by Dan Stevens, who was simply brilliant in his comedic role as Alexander Lemtov!
Thanks for movie critique. Good fun harmless satire. Highlights of Icelandic sweaters would have been nice. Freyr reference appreciated. Ha ha I think he could win. Don't know how UA-cam algorithm sent you my way in NYC but love it. (But grew up in Indiana so maybe there's the link). You've got new subscriber!
I laughed a lot watching a movie, I feel like Lithuania is similar to Iceland in the way small countries want to win eurovision, but are not really sure what would happen if they win. And we also thought we had it in the bag this year! Here's the song: ua-cam.com/video/1EAUxuuu1w8/v-deo.html
Oh weird, i randomly saw a clip somewhere but i didn't think it was a feature length film or anything. Now I kind of want to see it, but only to see Iceland 😜
I enjoyed the movie. Typical Will Ferrell movie. After I watched the movie I wanted to find out more about Iceland and discovered your channel. I’ve always thought Iceland is a beautiful country and hope to visit someday. As an American I thought his jabs at the American tourists, were hilarious.
I absolutely loved how they managed to exaggerate the contest and use the weirdest parts from its history and somehow make it so accurate in its craziness 😂 I laughed so hard when I first heard james bond try to speak Icelandic and then sounding like the Swedish cheff the rest of the movie 😂
I really enjoyed this video. But I gotta say I think Pierce Brosnan was perfect for the movie. To me it was find that he wasn't from Iceland. He was funny and in a Will Ferrell movie that's all that matters.
Gunnar could be a real viking ♥ - you guys are a sweet couple ♥ - I have seen that movie now for 3 times and I think it is really good and nice to watch. It is made very warm-hearted but the best part is the music in the film especially "Husavik" and "Double Trouble". The song "Husavik" could get an Oscar - nomination for "best original song".
OFFICIAL ESC for some reason when Husavik comes on at the end and she sings in Icelandic I cry. I’ve watched it a few times now and every time it gets me 🤷♀️
I love this movie. That said there are a few annoyances... 1. Language. As you note their Icelandic isn't particularly good. Totally agree that Pierce doesn't fit that well here. I'd really love if all characters used the proper language throughout the movie, but realise that it wouldn't attract a broader audience. 2. The scenes at the bus stop. - If there's only one stop it should be at the harbour, across the church. Not outside town. (I guess this was for practical reasons.) - The location of the stop used is obviously north of the town. To go to the airport or Reykjavík you travel south from Húsavík, but the bus goes northward... 3. Names. I totally agree with the strangeness of the names used. 4. The "Song-Along" is great! Really cool to see how many artists one recognize. Not to mention that "Johnny John John" is a parody of John Lundvik who's present in that scene.
Nearby where I live we have wooded, recreational area. In there there is a pacifier place, where children leave them, Two sculptures made from cutoff trees to look like wood trolls, perhaps "tomtar". I do not know what parents tell their children about them. Some people put out porridge for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve, but that Santa is a lot like the old version, "tomte" smaller and more grey, and keeping track of the household - they've got mixed up. In Stockholm children used to leave their pacifiers to the kittens at Skansen, the big outdoor museum. Some claim that cats are taking the place of tomtar and nissar, elves and gnomes ;)
I’m an American and I thought it was hilarious when Ferrell’s character is mean to them. I also love Eurovision and it was some European friends who were living here in the US who introduced it to me and I’ve enjoyed it ever since and have went back and watched numerous previous contests’ performances. I thought there were many great parts and enjoyed seeing the Eurovision contestants in the Song-a-long part. I did find the main characters names weird, too, but that’s only because I have watched some Icelanders’ UA-cam channels about Iceland and so was aware that those weren’t Icelandic names. Otherwise I’d probably have not noticed since my friends here who have watched it didn’t realize the names weren’t Icelandic. My only thought was that maybe in the first draft of the script the characters weren’t going to be from Iceland, but then as the script changed the location changed but the names didn’t. Then again it could be another joke Icelanders who to be able to laugh at the silly American made film using the wrong names. Ferrell is known for doing that in other of his satire like films whereby there’s jokes that are only for certain groups of people to recognize and otherwise others watching wouldn’t notice it as a joke. The movie does feel like it has lots of jokes that if you don’t know the subject matter then it’s just going to go over your head. My friends that watched it haven’t watched Eurovision so they didn’t get all those jokes, symbolism, etc (the “no one likes the UK” passing reference joke definitely was missed by them). They still liked the movie overall and a few are now interested in Eurovision itself, which makes me happy since mostly I just have internet friends, mostly from Europe, whom I get to share the enjoyment of Eurovision with. This is especially good since the producers of Eurovision, who helped with the movie, are working on a similar contest in the US whereby the states, territories, and district will compete against each other in a similar way as the nations in Eurovision do. There’s not a lot of details yet, just the announcement last year that it was being worked on and that there are multiple broadcast media companies that want to be a part of it. Otherwise it’s all still up in the air. Considering how very divided and everything we currently are in the US, it might do for the US what Eurovision did for Europe. At least that’s nice to think about that happening, but I guess we’ll see if it even happens. Great review! New to the channel, but definitely glad to have found it. Oh, since there was no contest this year there’s a channel I watched that did their own version. It’s mostly a reaction channel whereby a European that loves Eurovision has Americans watch it. Their makeshift 2020 show had them as the judges and then his channels viewers were the audience. Iceland won their version of the contest. I have a few friends who did the same thing via Zoom. Iceland won one of them and Malta won the other one. My friends here have inquired about doing the same thing here since I did show them some of the 2020 entries since they liked the movie. They liked what I showed them and were sad to hear the 2020 show was canceled. I was going to show them the 2019 contest, but it’s no longer on Netflix here (which is how we in the US got to see it; 2016, 2017, and 2018 were broadcast via LogoTV but then the channel decided not to keep airing it and the EBU ended up making a deal with Netflix which actually let those of us in the US watch the semifinals for the first time, too).
Offense is a choice. This is a comedy. Við höfum húmor fyrir okkur. The stereotypes in the movie were surprisingly spot on, which made it even funnier.
Before I watched the actual movie I watched a reaction to it. The Reaction Video I watched was by my favorite Icelandic UA-camr called Hrnfa. The ESC Movie was my first with Will Ferrell as the male lead and I watched with my mother . I am not Icelandic but I don't get why they use the Swedish Singer Molly Sanden / My Marianne for the vocals, they could have calibrated with a Icelandic singer. There's a Icelandic singer who made a Icelandic version of Husavik. The Husavik song is nominated for the Ocars in the category best song. Dadi FREYR is representing Iceland in Eurovision 2021 with the song 10 years.
That story about sending pacifiers to the elves was very interesting! We use the same story but we tell our kids we will send their pacifiers to black babies in Brooklyn... interesting, no? ;-) Never noticed some pacifiers tasted like Belgian waffles? ;-) About the Eurosongfestival: There was a celebratory television program on TV to replace the live-event. The Icelandic song is pretty popular in Belgium in alternative circles :) I like it a lot!
As an American who has been to Europe (including Iceland) a couple of times, I find myself frequently embarrassed by my fellow Americans. Too many of us don't believe we should have to learn the basics of a language like "please" and "thank you" or will loudly make fun of the local language and/or customs. I remember when I was in Austria, we were sitting in our guesthouse room with the windows open, and we could hear these obnoxious people from the southern United States, rudely making fun of the German language. My mom and I agreed right then and there when we went to breakfast in the morning, we were only going to speak German, because we didn't want to be associated with that amount of ignorance.
My cousins in Ireland have been asking if we (in the US) need out. As a matter of fact, the town where I work comes up in thier news regularly as a "what the h*ll are these idiots up to" kind of way. This is totally understandable.
I started to watch this and after first couple sentences I had to turn you guys off and go watch the movie and then come back and watch you 😃 So worth watching, that was hilarious! I don't think anybody could take offense to that, it was just poking fun at ourselves, thanks!
I'm American and I really enjoyed the movie. I wasn't offended by what Will as it was all in good fun plus there's bashing on both sides. I loved getting to see some areas of Iceland though and would love to visit the country some day.
Everyone knows ABBA and they, among others, had their great start at the Eurovision Song Contest. So it is a big thing hete in Europe. And yes many people don't appreciate/like the US, and that started during the Vietnam war.
I became interested in Iceland because of the Eurovision movie. I think Iceland and the Icelanders are awesome. I watch alot of videos about Iceland now. I never heard of Eurovision before the movie and can not believe it is not reported in the USA news.
My pacifiers went to the fish, not very environmentally friendly (my mom didn't really think about that at the time) it worked, apparently that night I said something like "where's my pacifier? Oh wait I don't use them anymore" and then went to sleep xD
I thought that Icelanders belief in elves interesting. At first I thought they were kidding but they were totally serious. Their teaching of the viking tales to the children. To be fair. I was there only a very short time. I got the feeling that some Icelanders felt their country was superior to all the other Scandinavian countries. I get that the land is not close to the other countries. Sense of humor ? I didn't see much of it.
Yes, Iceland should´ve won in 2020! "Think about Things" and "On Fire" from Lithuanias was my favorites. Btw. It´s so interesting hearing you, with the contrast between the volume when an American is talking and when a Scandinavian is talking. Americans often don´t realize how loud they´re speaking. Or perhaps how quiet a lot of us speak in Scandinavia. What we consider to be a normal speaking volume I think a lot of Americans would think of as library voice or something like that. When I watch videos and vlogs with Americans I often lower the volume significantly. The ritual with hanging pacifiers in trees exist in Sweden too. (Google "nappträd" and you will see a lot of them). I think the traditions with elves, and other nature creatures like that, is not that as many people here like _believe-believe_ that they´re actually real, but it´s more of a... it´s nice to sort of go into a fairytale mindset sometime, and think for instance that the mist or fog is the elves dancing on a meadow, even if you know the exact scientifially process that makes it happen. There is actually a weather phenonom that is called "Älvdans" in Swedish, "Dance of the elves", when there is a low local fog over a lake or a meadow, I don´t know what it´s called in English. I think things like this feels good to connect to our ancestors to really believed in such things. For me churches are the same thing. I don´t believe in any gods, but I like the atmosphere in an old church thinking about all the generations of people who was here before us. It was a really funny movie, but I agree with you that they should´ve tried a bit harder to make it more genuinly Icelandic, rather than Swedish-ish. Molly Sandén sings beautifully, but I´ve heard she is butchering the icelandic words, wish they´d worked harder to make that correct. Lots of Swedes involved in the process, I think, like almost all the songwriters, singers and so on. Will Ferrell first came in contact with Eurovision visiting his wife´s family in Sweden in 1999, when Sweden happened to win. They probably had Pierce Brosnan in the role of the father because they need some famous names to lure some people into watching it. And I think Will Ferrell really wanted to work with him.
I think the American insulting part of the movie only works because Will and this movie are American, so it comes off as "self deprecating humor", rather than someone external insulting the US :')
I think it makes perfect sense that Icelanders think this movie is hilarious, because as an American, I thought the scenes with all the insults about stereotypical Americans hilarious. I love when folks can laugh at themselves!
Fax
The funniest bit was that the stereotypical americans were perfectly nice and helpful and Will Ferrel just went in on them.😂
Some people in Scotland still believe in fairies.There are fairy mountains,wells,hills,pools and glens.
Oh, that fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
Same in ireland, and i have to admit even though i dont believe in faeries , i still wouldnt mess with them. In our folklore they arent the winged sparkly things like disney but rather mischievious, and at times, rather vicious beings of the other realm
Absolutely, you also have the clootie trees and wells where you can leave or tie a ribbon or piece of clothing to a tree or near well of natural spring as a gift in order to ask for a wish, hope or healing to be granted. Also it is a custom to leave sauser of milk and bread when mooving to a new house or building to ensure that the fairy folk does no mischief and protects the house. The saying not to sleep on fairy mounds as you may be bespelled and taken to their underground kingdom. In the past children who were unwell were sometimes belived to be changeling, that was left by the fairies when the human child was taken. And lastly, one of the theories about the lyrics of Loch Lomond song, about the high road and long road is that it was belived that the souls of scots who passed in a foreign lands will be led back to Scotland by the fairy folk using underground tunnels (low roads). 😊 personally I enjoyed the movie, it was celebration of the eurovision phenomenon, it was fun. Great opportunity to get together with friends and enjoy, we have eurovision parties, as UK we get zero points which is very much a tradition 😂😂😂
My Irish America step mother believed in 🧚♀️
Rachel Taylor and the Isle of Man. We have two fairy bridges, when you pass over the one on the road you’re meant to say hello to the little people as its bad luck not to. People leave gifts and wishes at both bridges. We also have fairy doors in a place called castletown
We enjoyed it! But we think Iceland needs to make an ordinance that forbids Americans from coming into bars where lives music is being played and yelling "PLAY JAJA DING-DONG!"
They are absolutely going to do that 😃
LOL good point.
Ha!! As an American, I can guarantee that will happen. It’s a catchy tune!
On a serious note I would love to immigrate to Iceland. I think, as many Americans do, that unless the mad man we have in office is removed from power, my country will be intolerable to live in. So embarrassing.
"JaJa Ding-Dong" America's version of "Free-bird"
Will’s wife is Swedish so maybe that influenced the names they chose.
I told my son that it would be wonderful to leave his pacifier for Santa to give to baby reindeer. He agreed and only asked one time about his pacifier. I couldn't believe it was so easy to break his attachment.
I’m American, and the making fun of Americans in the film was one of my favorite parts! Going to Starbucks and sitting in traffic is real life 😂😂😂 plus he poked so much fun at Europe it was a great equalizer.
LOL true
When my sister was too old for her pacifier our grandma told her that she had to give it to the bear mama for her kids so that's the Bulgarian version of your elf story😉
Aww, that is so sweet.
I loved the movie, especially the music, and I'm glad you all and Iceland by and large is too! That story about giving up the pacifier for baby elves is too cute omg 😭😭😭
I think the Swedish names is bc Will Farrell's wife is Swedish (which is how he was first introduced to Eurovision a couple of decades ago), but it was still a strange writing decision
Yay! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie. Ah, ok. I didn't know that Will Farrell's wife is Swedish. I agree that it is a strange decision. Thanks for the comment.
I absolutely loved the movie! Having all my knowledge of Iceland mostly from your videos, and knowing nothing at all about Eurovision, I had no expectations before watching and so was pleasantly entertained. I really was just excited to see a movie set in Iceland! It's lovely to hear Gunnar's opinion as an Icelander and yours as well! The Husavik song was on replay in my head for days afterwards, it was so beautiful.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The depiction of Eurovision was accurate too - if you enjoyed it check out the contest itself! Everything from hamster wheels to angel wings to demon costumes was lifted from genuine acts.
dude is the epitome of chill. like a dude u can always kick it with. wish i had icelandic homies. btw the US stereotypes in the movie are pretty on point. embarrassing but true. wish we were a bit more respectful in our travels 😂
People are chill in the Nordic countries , no vitamin d so low energy haha
I can be your icelandic homie haha
I thought the American bashing was completely warranted. We bash everyone in the world, but then wag the finger at those who return the favor. So yeah, I agree that there’s no reason to be offended by it.
exactly. They put the yellowish color in latin american places on movies and here are only contries with drugs and all that stuff so... it's funny to see american (and the wall of trump) showed as a joke.
If anyone is offended by this movie it’s there own problem
@@daviddave4985 Not to mention that annpying guitar music that follows Spanish speaking characters around on US television!
This was a great reaction! I saw the film and immediately wondered "What do actual Icelanders think of this movie?" Surprisingly, this is only one of two videos that actually addresses this! Thank you!
My pleasure. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Hi, love you guys! Haven't seen the movie but in regards to the comment about Icelanders being confused about the US & the way it's run..... a lot of us here are confused about that too ! 🙃
Good point!
I literally never thought about Iceland in my entire 60 years until I saw this movie. Ferrell made Iceland, at least to me, feel like a very warm and comfortable place. Homey and welcoming. I had no idea how beautiful it was nor did I realize it was a big tourist destination. Now it is definitely my list of places to visit. The song written about Husivik makes the place feel like its everyone's hometown or at least wish that it were.
This was fun, thank you for the reaction video. It's funny that you mentioned America's Got Talent, which originated in the UK and was based on X Factor, which was based on Idol, which was based on ...the Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, as way of bringing together the countries of Europe around a "light entertainment programme".
That reminded me that one of the reasons Eurovision is such a party night, is that up until the 90's the whole contest took place on Saturday night. So, icelanders watched the show early on Saturday night, then when downtown to the clubs. So, what changed in the 90's? Well, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, as more and more countires broke free from the Soviet Union, they wanted to show their independence and what better way than to join Eurovision? So, the number of countries participating kept increasing, until they set up semi-finals and it got split across three nights instead of one :)
Oh, and I was hoping Gunnar would explain the Katiana-Keflavík joke! "Katiana is great! YES! AND she's from Keflavík!"
Hahahaha :)
Fascinating. Thanks for the timeline and history lesson. :-)
LOL I don't think Gunnar remembered that part of the movie.
@@AllThingsIceland you're welcome, hope I didn't come off as arrogant! A fun movie :)
Yes, I’m Australian and we are so crazy about Eurovision that they sort of let us “compete” as honourary Europeans now.
So it sounds like Eurovision grew because to did exactly what the creators hoped!
I am also an american who married an Icelander and lives here now as well :) I watched the movie with my husband too and we both enjoyed it. From what I have heard they used the name Sigrit because Sigrit Ericksdottir sounds like "Secret Ericksdottir" as a continuation of the running sister joke in the movie.
Thanks for introducing me to Daði Freyr. I've been watching all of his videos ever since. Hopefully he get's another chance at Eurovision once Covid is gone.
My love for this movie has really gotten me motivated currently to come visit and see Iceland. Plus my love for Viking culture. I hope to visit one day! Great video guys!
I have to say that the movie is like a "loveletter for the real Eurovision Song Contest" - and I can understand that not all U.S.-Americans are able to understand the deep meaning of the "Eurovision" ....because they don't know that big contest here in Europe. Fun fact: Iceland was set to win the contest in real life this year with the band Daði og Gagnamagnið - Think About Things
Dadi Freyr -absolutely nailed on to win, had it not been for COVID-19. Robbed by the virus.
In Sweden we did a mock up contest with all of the foreign songs, and Daði won.
Thanks for the commentary. Enjoyed it. BTW, you are so cute together! I can see how you guys click. I see love oozing all over the place!
Thank you! 😊
I watched the movie and thought it was good entertainment. It was Will Ferrel so I didn't expect a documentary. (from USA)
That’s funny, I live in the USA and I used the same tactic to get my daughter to give up her pacifier. I told her we had to hang it on a tree in our front yard so that the “binky fairy” could collect it to pass it on to other babies that needed it, since she was becoming a big girl she wouldn’t need it anymore. It worked like a charm ;) The next day we even went outside to see if the fairy 🧚♀️ had taken it away. She was so excited and never worried about her pacifier again.
You two are just too cute! 😍 I loved your video! I had to put my phone up to my ear to hear Gunnar though, which is hilariously expected I think, Icelandic and Americans having notoriously different styles (and volume) of communicating 😅. I think the movie is super fun and like you say, not to be taken too seriously. 🤗
😂😂 Thanks for the lovely comment.
Be safe and blessed out there SHALOM SHALOM AMEN SHALOM
I was so curious what Icelandic people thought about this movie, and what? You've made a video about it! I think you read my mind!
A little Eurovision back story for those who aren't familiar. Eurovision started in 1956 as a means to unite Europe post WW2. It has featured many famous artists such as ABBA and Celine Dion. It is very Lgbtq-friendly (although Russia isn't happy about it) and the contest is sometimes jokingly referred to as the Gay Olympics.
Yes! It’s beautiful. And not a copy of any US show at all 😂 typical American to think they’ve come up with something that they didn’t 😋
I was wondering if you’d seen this movie. I came across it on Netflix and kept passing it up because it looked goofy in a bad way, but then I finally watched it. It was so fun, and had a good storyline, and was a pleasant distraction. I was sure they took liberties, and were exaggerating and botching Icelandic culture and language, but I wasn’t sure about what or where/when! 🤣 Now I know. I didn’t realize elves and fairies were part of Icelandic culture, either. I thought the part with Will Ferrell making fun Americans was hilarious! There always a smidgen truth to jokes which is what makes them funny. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. This movie was WAY better than the Will Ferrell movie that came out in January, Downhill. It was serious and sad and not funny at all. This move was the exact opposite: lighthearted, happy, funny... and I’m glad I watched it.
Yay! So glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie. At first, I was not going to watch but Gunnar was so excited about it. I'm glad I gave it a shot too.
M'Lady...you are a great American ambassador (or is it ambassadrix....LOL!) and I'm really enjoying your videos!
I'm an American and Loved his roasting of the USA 😂🤣 I loved it. Super cute story.
This is soo weird but you look like my old therapist and you remind me of her, so sweet and calm and smart 🧡
I hope they make a sequel. This was a pretty good funny movie. First movie that Will has been funny in a long time. Overall, it was great.
Awesome. Adore seeing you two together, such a beautiful pairing of personality (ok and you both are gorgeous!)
Thanks for the lovely comment and the video suggestion. Funny enough, I have been watching Icelandic films lately, so I will add that video idea to the list.
Your research sounds so interesting.
How can one learn more about your research? Faeries fascinate me!
I too wondered what Icelanders thought of this film. Granted, it’s Will Ferrell and it’s supposed to be comedy. I think he roasted just about every nationality in this film including Americans, which is well deserved. But I hope the rest of the world does not think that Ja Ja dingdong is an Icelandic song! Actually it was a very nice love letter to Iceland because it showed a lot of beautiful scenery. On the premise that any publicity is good publicity, I think it was a winner. At least there were no fermented shark jokes🤣
Great to see you two! You sold me on it. I will stream the movie and see what I'm missing out on. Stay well. John Lomax
I learned about the Eurovision Song Contest from my German husband, and finally got to enjoy it while living in Turkey. I saw the clip for "Think About Things". It is quirky and fun!
I loved the movie, but of course, it's a comedy and not to be taken seriously. I am now interested in visiting Iceland because of this movie.
Dadi won the digital version of the Eurovision Song contest
Hi! I just watched and I think it was funny because I could understand all the local references to Icelandic culture but for example for a lot of people here in Mexico they just didn’t get it. I mean probably not even identity the soundtrack or the brothers joke . So I can’t say if I like the film or not because the thing I really like is the Icelandic culture. My fav joke was the Elfs killing the villain and making fun of 2008 economic issue. Like they laught about it and just take it as a silly film for have a good time on a wknd .
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the film. I can definitely see how it wouldn't be funny for people who are not familiar with the culture.
Love that movie so much. Great topic! Watched the think about things video.... Fab U Lus!
Eurovision is not in any way taken from a US show! It started around WWII to bring people from different countries together through music. It’s a beautiful concept really.
I grew up with ESC and I thought he was going to mock it but in reality it was a love song to ESC 🥰
I watched some Interviews and Will Ferrell’s wife is Swedish so I think they mixed up the Nordic aspects a lot 😅 which people outside Scandinavia probably wouldn’t notice.
This is a really sweet and non-roasting reaction video 🤗
I'm an American and I loved the movie. I thought it was hilarious tho I agree that they should have used Icelandic names and had better pronunciation. If I could visit your beautiful country I would but having a severe allergy to cold temperatures it would be too dangerous to visit. Living for your videos!🥰❤️❄️ Thank you for sharing all of Iceland with us.🐋❄️🌿❤️🤓
I learned about Eurovision Song Contest from my Finnish Daughter in law years ago and I learned from her that you can't take the actual contest too seriously so the movie was funny and I enjoyed it. Some of the inappropriate jokes I didn't enjoy but for the most part it was okay. (I'm American.) I hope that Icelanders didn't feel like they were being made fun of! Thanks for your videos! You do a great job.
I absolutely LOVED this movie!!!
Yay!! 🥳
We thought it was on par for a Will Ferrell movie (silly). We totally cracked up at all the elf bits. Especially the door slamming/knife bit toward the end. That and seeing some of our favorite Icelandic actors made it worth watching. :) Hope you’re well! Hello from Arizona, USA!
Yay! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. We are well and hope the same for you!
Will wanted Pierce as his father because he was so good looking! That’s what Will told Conan... I loved this movie but being American I missed the significance of the Eurovision performances in the movie. I spent days researching previous Eurovision acts to see what performances inspired the musical nods. It added a whole new level of appreciation and enjoyment for me. I loved this movie, actually I’m obsessed with it. Molly Sanden and Eric Mjones were just wonderful. My single favorite performances were by Dan Stevens, who was simply brilliant in his comedic role as Alexander Lemtov!
My bff and I wached it (we are swedish) we laughed and we loved it and now I want to move to Iceland.
Thanks for movie critique. Good fun harmless satire. Highlights of Icelandic sweaters would have been nice. Freyr reference appreciated. Ha ha I think he could win. Don't know how UA-cam algorithm sent you my way in NYC but love it. (But grew up in Indiana so maybe there's the link). You've got new subscriber!
Beautiful couple!!!! I love the movie!! I have always wanted to visit Iceland!!! It’s a beautiful country!!
Thanks! I hope you do get to visit.
I laughed a lot watching a movie, I feel like Lithuania is similar to Iceland in the way small countries want to win eurovision, but are not really sure what would happen if they win. And we also thought we had it in the bag this year! Here's the song: ua-cam.com/video/1EAUxuuu1w8/v-deo.html
Oh weird, i randomly saw a clip somewhere but i didn't think it was a feature length film or anything. Now I kind of want to see it, but only to see Iceland 😜
LOL. There are some beautiful shots of the country in the film. Let me know what you think of the movie if you decide to check it out.
I enjoyed the movie. Typical Will Ferrell movie. After I watched the movie I wanted to find out more about Iceland and discovered your channel. I’ve always thought Iceland is a beautiful country and hope to visit someday. As an American I thought his jabs at the American tourists, were hilarious.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I hope you do visit.
I absolutely loved how they managed to exaggerate the contest and use the weirdest parts from its history and somehow make it so accurate in its craziness 😂
I laughed so hard when I first heard james bond try to speak Icelandic and then sounding like the Swedish cheff the rest of the movie 😂
I really enjoyed this video. But I gotta say I think Pierce Brosnan was perfect for the movie. To me it was find that he wasn't from Iceland. He was funny and in a Will Ferrell movie that's all that matters.
Gunnar could be a real viking ♥ - you guys are a sweet couple ♥ - I have seen that movie now for 3 times and I think it is really good and nice to watch. It is made very warm-hearted but the best part is the music in the film especially "Husavik" and "Double Trouble". The song "Husavik" could get an Oscar - nomination for "best original song".
Thanks for the lovely comment. I agree that the "Húsavík" song is really good.
OFFICIAL ESC for some reason when Husavik comes on at the end and she sings in Icelandic I cry. I’ve watched it a few times now and every time it gets me 🤷♀️
OMG I just watched the video of Daði Freyr. He's freaking hilarious!! But really good too! I loved it.
That is soooooo neat! 😀
I love this movie. That said there are a few annoyances...
1. Language. As you note their Icelandic isn't particularly good. Totally agree that Pierce doesn't fit that well here.
I'd really love if all characters used the proper language throughout the movie, but realise that it wouldn't attract a broader audience.
2. The scenes at the bus stop.
- If there's only one stop it should be at the harbour, across the church. Not outside town. (I guess this was for practical reasons.)
- The location of the stop used is obviously north of the town. To go to the airport or Reykjavík you travel south from Húsavík, but the bus goes northward...
3. Names. I totally agree with the strangeness of the names used.
4. The "Song-Along" is great! Really cool to see how many artists one recognize. Not to mention that "Johnny John John" is a parody of John Lundvik who's present in that scene.
Nearby where I live we have wooded, recreational area. In there there is a pacifier place, where children leave them, Two sculptures made from cutoff trees to look like wood trolls, perhaps "tomtar". I do not know what parents tell their children about them.
Some people put out porridge for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve, but that Santa is a lot like the old version, "tomte" smaller and more grey, and keeping track of the household - they've got mixed up.
In Stockholm children used to leave their pacifiers to the kittens at Skansen, the big outdoor museum. Some claim that cats are taking the place of tomtar and nissar, elves and gnomes ;)
Interesting and thanks for sharing.
Love his voice.
I’m an American and I thought it was hilarious when Ferrell’s character is mean to them. I also love Eurovision and it was some European friends who were living here in the US who introduced it to me and I’ve enjoyed it ever since and have went back and watched numerous previous contests’ performances. I thought there were many great parts and enjoyed seeing the Eurovision contestants in the Song-a-long part. I did find the main characters names weird, too, but that’s only because I have watched some Icelanders’ UA-cam channels about Iceland and so was aware that those weren’t Icelandic names. Otherwise I’d probably have not noticed since my friends here who have watched it didn’t realize the names weren’t Icelandic. My only thought was that maybe in the first draft of the script the characters weren’t going to be from Iceland, but then as the script changed the location changed but the names didn’t. Then again it could be another joke Icelanders who to be able to laugh at the silly American made film using the wrong names. Ferrell is known for doing that in other of his satire like films whereby there’s jokes that are only for certain groups of people to recognize and otherwise others watching wouldn’t notice it as a joke. The movie does feel like it has lots of jokes that if you don’t know the subject matter then it’s just going to go over your head. My friends that watched it haven’t watched Eurovision so they didn’t get all those jokes, symbolism, etc (the “no one likes the UK” passing reference joke definitely was missed by them). They still liked the movie overall and a few are now interested in Eurovision itself, which makes me happy since mostly I just have internet friends, mostly from Europe, whom I get to share the enjoyment of Eurovision with. This is especially good since the producers of Eurovision, who helped with the movie, are working on a similar contest in the US whereby the states, territories, and district will compete against each other in a similar way as the nations in Eurovision do. There’s not a lot of details yet, just the announcement last year that it was being worked on and that there are multiple broadcast media companies that want to be a part of it. Otherwise it’s all still up in the air. Considering how very divided and everything we currently are in the US, it might do for the US what Eurovision did for Europe. At least that’s nice to think about that happening, but I guess we’ll see if it even happens.
Great review! New to the channel, but definitely glad to have found it. Oh, since there was no contest this year there’s a channel I watched that did their own version. It’s mostly a reaction channel whereby a European that loves Eurovision has Americans watch it. Their makeshift 2020 show had them as the judges and then his channels viewers were the audience. Iceland won their version of the contest. I have a few friends who did the same thing via Zoom. Iceland won one of them and Malta won the other one. My friends here have inquired about doing the same thing here since I did show them some of the 2020 entries since they liked the movie. They liked what I showed them and were sad to hear the 2020 show was canceled. I was going to show them the 2019 contest, but it’s no longer on Netflix here (which is how we in the US got to see it; 2016, 2017, and 2018 were broadcast via LogoTV but then the channel decided not to keep airing it and the EBU ended up making a deal with Netflix which actually let those of us in the US watch the semifinals for the first time, too).
Offense is a choice. This is a comedy. Við höfum húmor fyrir okkur. The stereotypes in the movie were surprisingly spot on, which made it even funnier.
You can see from how he looks at you, he’s smitten.
I thoght the movie was great fun and my husband and I laughed hysterically, rewound and laughed again!!
Before I watched the actual movie I watched a reaction to it.
The Reaction Video I watched was by my favorite Icelandic UA-camr called Hrnfa.
The ESC Movie was my first with Will Ferrell as the male lead and I watched with my mother .
I am not Icelandic but I don't get why they use the Swedish Singer Molly Sanden / My Marianne for the vocals, they could have calibrated with a Icelandic singer.
There's a Icelandic singer who made a Icelandic version of Husavik.
The Husavik song is nominated for the Ocars in the category best song.
Dadi FREYR is representing Iceland in Eurovision 2021 with the song 10 years.
Just checked your channel, sad to see Husavik wasnt reacted too with your husband. Itd have been interesting to see what he thought.
That story about sending pacifiers to the elves was very interesting! We use the same story but we tell our kids we will send their pacifiers to black babies in Brooklyn... interesting, no? ;-)
Never noticed some pacifiers tasted like Belgian waffles? ;-)
About the Eurosongfestival: There was a celebratory television program on TV to replace the live-event. The Icelandic song is pretty popular in Belgium in alternative circles :) I like it a lot!
I'm curious to know what you guys think of last years Icelandic entry for Eurovision. Hatari were amazing XD
I loved watching the two of you sweethearts
You guys are lovely!
I loved the movie! I live in Sweden and Eurovision is a big thing here too
Yay! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Yeah, Gunnar looks like Dadi. I wonder how tall he is? Dadi is 6’9”, in feet,. Also, they’re both hot!! Congratulations Girl!!
😂 thanks
Serious request!! Can Gunnar PLEASE do some ASMR videos for UA-cam?? He has the BEST voice for it!!!
I’ll let him know you have that request. 😊
As an American who has been to Europe (including Iceland) a couple of times, I find myself frequently embarrassed by my fellow Americans. Too many of us don't believe we should have to learn the basics of a language like "please" and "thank you" or will loudly make fun of the local language and/or customs. I remember when I was in Austria, we were sitting in our guesthouse room with the windows open, and we could hear these obnoxious people from the southern United States, rudely making fun of the German language. My mom and I agreed right then and there when we went to breakfast in the morning, we were only going to speak German, because we didn't want to be associated with that amount of ignorance.
My cousins in Ireland have been asking if we (in the US) need out. As a matter of fact, the town where I work comes up in thier news regularly as a "what the h*ll are these idiots up to" kind of way. This is totally understandable.
I started to watch this and after first couple sentences I had to turn you guys off and go watch the movie and then come back and watch you 😃 So worth watching, that was hilarious! I don't think anybody could take offense to that, it was just poking fun at ourselves, thanks!
Hey, you should really get a channel icon, it would make your channel look great!
Hi. I have a channel icon. For some reason it doesn't always appear. It is kind of strange.
I'm American and I really enjoyed the movie. I wasn't offended by what Will as it was all in good fun plus there's bashing on both sides. I loved getting to see some areas of Iceland though and would love to visit the country some day.
Elves and UFO ...
What´s the different?
Everyone knows ABBA and they, among others, had their great start at the Eurovision Song Contest. So it is a big thing hete in Europe.
And yes many people don't appreciate/like the US, and that started during the Vietnam war.
Ja ja ding dong issa club banger
😂😂😂
Italian grandmothers tell a similar story. The fairies and elves can be found everywhere. ;)
I became interested in Iceland because of the Eurovision movie. I think Iceland and the Icelanders are awesome. I watch alot of videos about Iceland now. I never heard of Eurovision before the movie and can not believe it is not reported in the USA news.
It is quite weird that the US media never talks about it.
I just want to hear Jajah ding dong. You must play it!
Where is the competition video?
Hi Jules and Gunnar! New subscriber here x
Play! Ya Ya! Ding Dong!
Thanks for sharing 👍🏽👍🏽
Your hair looks beautiful - really suits you...
How could you not talk about Jaja Ding Dong? I only want to hear Jaja Ding Dong!
I love love love the movie. It's hilarious.
My pacifiers went to the fish, not very environmentally friendly (my mom didn't really think about that at the time) it worked, apparently that night I said something like "where's my pacifier? Oh wait I don't use them anymore" and then went to sleep xD
I thought that Icelanders belief in elves interesting. At first I thought they were kidding but they were totally serious. Their teaching of the viking tales to the children. To be fair. I was there only a very short time. I got the feeling that some Icelanders felt their country was superior to all the other Scandinavian countries. I get that the land is not close to the other countries. Sense of humor ? I didn't see much of it.
Yes, Iceland should´ve won in 2020! "Think about Things" and "On Fire" from Lithuanias was my favorites.
Btw. It´s so interesting hearing you, with the contrast between the volume when an American is talking and when a Scandinavian is talking. Americans often don´t realize how loud they´re speaking. Or perhaps how quiet a lot of us speak in Scandinavia. What we consider to be a normal speaking volume I think a lot of Americans would think of as library voice or something like that. When I watch videos and vlogs with Americans I often lower the volume significantly.
The ritual with hanging pacifiers in trees exist in Sweden too. (Google "nappträd" and you will see a lot of them). I think the traditions with elves, and other nature creatures like that, is not that as many people here like _believe-believe_ that they´re actually real, but it´s more of a... it´s nice to sort of go into a fairytale mindset sometime, and think for instance that the mist or fog is the elves dancing on a meadow, even if you know the exact scientifially process that makes it happen.
There is actually a weather phenonom that is called "Älvdans" in Swedish, "Dance of the elves", when there is a low local fog over a lake or a meadow, I don´t know what it´s called in English. I think things like this feels good to connect to our ancestors to really believed in such things. For me churches are the same thing. I don´t believe in any gods, but I like the atmosphere in an old church thinking about all the generations of people who was here before us.
It was a really funny movie, but I agree with you that they should´ve tried a bit harder to make it more genuinly Icelandic, rather than Swedish-ish. Molly Sandén sings beautifully, but I´ve heard she is butchering the icelandic words, wish they´d worked harder to make that correct. Lots of Swedes involved in the process, I think, like almost all the songwriters, singers and so on. Will Ferrell first came in contact with Eurovision visiting his wife´s family in Sweden in 1999, when Sweden happened to win. They probably had Pierce Brosnan in the role of the father because they need some famous names to lure some people into watching it. And I think Will Ferrell really wanted to work with him.
You guys are super cute!
LOVE DADI FREYER!!
🥳
I think the American insulting part of the movie only works because Will and this movie are American, so it comes off as "self deprecating humor", rather than someone external insulting the US :')
I love the movie! :-)
Dadi Freyr reminds me alot of Jay from Jay and Silent Bob, appearance wise anyway.
Being offended is typically American haha
LOL
As an American, I agree, and am offended. Hahaha
Yeah, not really.
PLAY JAJA DING DONG
LOL
I loved the movie and i hope the song Husavik wins an oscar!
That would be awesome!