Uwodzenie po islandzku
Seduction in Iceland

Summary/Abstract: Seduction may become a philosophy of life. This is shown in the film 101 Reykjavik based on the novel by Hallgrimur Helgason. The main character, Hlynur Björn, pursues numerous erotic adventures to escape form his greatest enemy: boredom. He seduces women driven by the sensations they provide rather than by who they are. According to Blanka Brzozowska, the process of watching is the most important element for Hlynur: “women exist for him only as long as they become the objects of his gaze. The act of love and the aesthetic impression last as long as the act of watching”. Thus, when the seducer’s gaze foxes on the next target, his previous lover merges with the rest of his collection. Hlynur also enjoys watching porn films because they provide him with additional visual sensations. Ultimately the seducer falls into his own trap: the images he continuously sees (both the ones from his life as well as from the screen) desensitise him and lead him to what he so desperately tried to avoid: boredom. From that moment Hlynur’s actions are limited exclusively to watching and self-analysis. Everything changes when he achieves the unachievable: he spends a passionate night with a lesbian, his mother’s lover. In this role the director of the film, Baltasar Kormákur, cast a Spanish actress in order to stress the character’s temperament. This feature plays an important part in the screenplay, but differs from the novel (this being only one of the many differences between the two). The character’s declared homosexuality makes the love scene more enchanting, but most importantly, her activity distinguishes her from Hlynur’s previous lovers and “makes it impossible to turn her into an object of contemplation,” concludes Blanka Brzozowska. Hlynur finally begins to feel he is alive.

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