Adapted from the novel by Arnaldur Indridason, Jar City is a noir thriller of sorts that spans 30 years and encompasses an entire nation. Police inspector Erlendur is investigating a brutal murder of an elderly man where the only clue to go in is a photograph of a girl’s 30-year-old grave. The man was once accused of some horrible crimes, and it would seem that his past has finally caught up with him. Or has it? Director Baltasar Kormakur weaves the investigation into a look at faltering Icelandic society as a whole, and in doing so uses the secrets of the case to illuminate the secrets of a nation. Simultaneously purely Icelandic and completely accessible to viewers anywhere, the film makes clear the meaning of being Icelandic, as equally as it does the meaning of being human.