Author

I started as an actor, then became a theater director. I loved acting but didn't feel as confident as I needed to be, so I started directing theater; then I played in some movies, and then I felt the need to do my own stuff.

From Baltasar Kormakur

I've always looked at filmmaking as a lifestyle. There is no decision of when you go to work. It's a way of life: you're thinking about scripts; you see things and think, 'That could be interesting'... I don't think about my work as, 'Today I'll work on this, this and that.' It just comes to me.

From Baltasar Kormakur

People talk about Hollywood as a myth, but in reality, when you make Icelandic movies and you want to get them distributed in the U.S., you're not really working with Hollywood. The movies I've been making, the first one I made, I made it with Working Title, but it was financed through Universal, so it became a Hollywood production.

From Baltasar Kormakur

I'm the first Icelandic director who started working on U.S. movies. There are others behind me now, but it's like when Bjork opened the door for Icelandic musicians to work abroad. We're such a closed-off country, but Bjork broke the spell. And I'm glad it was a woman who did it. She showed us we could break this barrier.

From Baltasar Kormakur

When I made '101 Reykjavik,' people talked about 'Almodovar on ice.' When I made 'The Sea,' people referenced Bergman.

From Baltasar Kormakur

We will work on ways to digitally enhance Everest, matching it with Dolomites and Everest, but I'll do everything physically first. If there's no other way, then I'll go to CGI.

From Baltasar Kormakur

I think my sweet spot is to make personal films on not-too-big budgets and also make other people's films, bringing productions to Iceland, upping the business here.

From Baltasar Kormakur

Throughout the history of Iceland, men have been lost at sea; every family in Iceland is connected to that kind of story.

From Baltasar Kormakur

In the case of 'The Deep,' because of the people involved, the talent and the real lives of people who died, I wanted to make the most honest film I could. And sometimes that's the best way to go: Just make the best version of the film you can.

From Baltasar Kormakur

If you make a film too American, it won't travel. It will have no life outside of its own country.

From Baltasar Kormakur

Baltasar Kormakur

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