This year’s nominee from Iceland for best foreign film in the Academy Awards is The Deep (Djúpið) directed by Baltasar Kormákur.  The movie is based on a true story. In 1984, a fishing boat sank off the south coast of Iceland.  Four of the five fisherman drown in the icy water.  Only Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, the 22 year old helmsman, (called Gulli in the film) survived, swimming in the 5° C ocean for a nearly unbelievable six hours and then walking barefoot for another two hours across through ice and snow before finding help.  Guðlaugur Friðþórsson became equal parts national hero and scientific oddity. Subsequent MRIs revealed that his body fat was almost like the fat of a seal, several times thicker and two to three times more dense than that of the average male.  Perhaps the legend of the selkie is not so far fetched.

The Deep (Djúpið) Official Trailer (HD)- english subtitles