Cinemas

Visiting a cinema in Iceland is an experience. Ok, for the record i'm not talking about the Reykjavik megaplexes that you can find all over the Americanised world, more the small-town cinemas spread over the rest of the country. These can take the form of what appears to be a converted village hall and are a nice refuge from the Icelandic weather.

Generally the cinemas are what you expect: Seating for about 100 people, a mixture of home-grown and international blockbusters (with subtitles), and a friendly atmosphere. The thing that comes as a shock to you though is the break in the middle of the film. At what seems like a random point the film stops for an interval. Unfortunately the way this takes place is more along the lines of pulling the power cable out of the wall, rather than a controlled pause. Anyone coming for the first time thinks the film has broken, well until the house lights come on and people go out for refreshments. Sure enough after 15minutes the machine gets plugged in again, and off we go! Another quirk from Iceland.