Tor and Kristjan spend a turbulent summer in a remote fishing village. Tor’s best friend Kristjan is always protecting him from his sisters at home and others outside. Both are from dysfunctional families, Tor with a disinterested mother, and Kristjan with a physically abusive father. When Tor falls in love with a girl, Kritjan realizes the identity of his feelings for his best friend. Heartstone is a feature debut about the growing pains of teenage boys, set in the outstanding backdrop of majestic skies and vast grasslands, a beautiful mountain, and a great lake in a village in Iceland. The way in which it captures two best friends, a first kiss, youthful curiosity about sex and love, and other such things that boys of that age are interested in, is quite remarkable. When Kristjan begins to understand his sexual identity and the film takes his perspective, we follow along in apprehension. The shots in closeup detailing the boys’ emotions, and the scene juxtaposing one’s overwhelming love and happiness and the other’s painful loss of love, is especially impressive. The last shot of an ugly fish is a fitting metaphor of bygone childhood. (RHEE Souewon)