Morten's Blog

Great tune by Frightened Rabbit from Scotland. You can find more from them on Spotify.

Another excellent tune from The Tragically Hip. This one starring the golden trio from The Trailer Park Boys. These guys almost makes one proud of only living 3.600 kilometers from the border of Canada.

Thanks to IgniterMedia for this great compilation. See here for a text version.

Ostrov (The Island)

If you are up for a good movie this weekend, i can highly recommend the russian movie “Ostrov“, released in 2006.

It’s about a sailor named Anatoli (Timofei Tribuntsev), who during the second world war gets captured by a German patrol boat, along with his captain Tikhon on a small coal freighter. He’s given the choice between shooting Thikon and live, or die himself.

He shoots, and the Germans leave him on the boat. But not before they’ve put explosive charges all over the freighter. The boat explodes, and Anatoli is fortunate to be found alive on the beach by some Orthodox munks. And he settles down there after his recovery.

We then follow an older Anatoli (Pyotr Mamonov) from the year 1976, still living at the monastery, in the boiler hut located on a small island. He is constantly haunted by the fact that he shot his captain and friend, Thikon. He has also become quite eccentric over the years, to put it mildly, and a nuisance to many of the other munks. And while he appears at times to be stark raving mad, there is strange logic to his behavior. People come from far away to see him, asking for help with all kinds of problems; from unwanted pregnancies to demon possessions.

The movie shows a man with strong faith and a hunger for salvation. It is full of good moments and humor.

I give it 5 out of 6.

You can get it at Amazon.com