Time to kick off the review-athon proper-like with the first film of the festival…
Cop Secret
Dir. Hannes Thór Halldórsson / Dur. 98 min
Strand:- Laugh
In A Nutshell:- Top Rekjavik cop Bussi is threatened in more ways than one by the need to team up with up-and-coming ex-model-turned-cop Hördur in Iceland’s first action cop buddy spoof comedy.
The Good:- Clearly parodying the 80s/90s Hollywood buddy action movie but clearly made with buckets of affection, Cop Secret nails the tone from the start with epic sweeping shots and a pounding score reminiscent of not just 80s blockbuster action films but also its small screen equivalents like Miami Vice. The opening chase sequence pulls off a great reveal gag, setting the tone for the rest of the film. It makes good use of its low budget to give the impression of being a much bigger budget action film, with particular credit to the music and editing for achieving the feel of something much more expensive than it is. Aside from the main performers (who make the right decision of largely playing it seriously; at least, seriously in the context of 80s/90s action film acting - the exception being main villain Rikki Ferrari who is played with the bizarre over the top energy of many a 90s action film villain e.g. Dennis Hopper in Speed), there are nice comedic turns from the supporting cast, in particular the victimised henchman who keeps pointing out the flaws in the villainous plotting going on around him.
The Bad:- The only “bad” thing is that this film was made for the Icelandic market without really imagining that it would travel much further so a lot of the gags are targeted at having specific knowledge of Iceland (such as the idea of having separate jurisdictions for Reykjavik and Gardabaer as they’re ridiculously close to each other). It’s not really a criticism, though; more a shame that there’s a level of humour that I was kissing out on and it’s a credit to the filmmakers that this doesn’t really detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.
The Verdict:- This was a great way to kick off the festival - a fun but affectionate spoof of action films much in the same vein as Hot Fuzz (cited as an inspiration by the director).
Venue Notes:- My first time in the main screen at the BFI for the best part of 20 months and it was good to be back. I was briefly genuinely annoyed that they seemed to have refitted the cinema with much smaller seats which struck me as an insane idea during a pandemic until I realised that I’ve put on around 2.5 stone since the first lockdown started. Sigh….
Q&A Notes:- The film’s director, Hannes Thór Halldórsson, is a professional goalkeeper and played in goal against England in this year’s Euros*. In fact, he had to juggle the filming schedule around his football commitments, often leaving the shoot to practice and then racing back to carry on filming. That’s a level of dedication to filmmaking that you have to admire.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of Icelandic in-jokes. Former comedian Jón Gnarr once served as Mayor of Reykjavik; in the film, he portrays the Prime Minister**. Similarly, a number of Icelandic personalities appear as themselves throughout the film.
The budget for the film was apparently 0.003% that of the latest Fast & Furious film.
*Look, I know the square root of naff all about football but even I was amused by this fact.
**I guess the UK equivalent would be a former columnist and TV personality/ pus-filled-sack of moral ineptitude becoming the Prime Minister of the UK. Actually, never mind, that wouldn’t be funny.
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