Norwegian shortcuts 2/2 continues displaying different 'uninhabitable' places in Norway where we get to meet persons who can't imagine living elsewhere. Real enthusiasts (Le hameau de Vassvika/Vassvika; L'île de Litle Færøy/Little Færøy; Le port de Kirkefjord/Kirkefjorden i Lofoten).
Bleeder, a film by Nicolas Winding Refn - again.
In this film we meet Leo a violent man who finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant.
He is not at all mature enough taking on a responsibility like a child and his only identity seem to be violence and crime.
To this one can add that he is suspicous concerning whether or not he's actually the father and he also dislikes that his girlfriends brother - a man with no higher moral standards either (more than 'protecting' his sister) - interfer in their private life.
One of his friends is called Lenny, a likewise 'boyish', immature, unintellectual man, (Mads Mikkelsen) living life through the films he sells in a video shop.
He meets a girl working as a waitress and living her life through books, a meeting that changes both their lives.
Well I don't have to tell more than this. When it comes to narrative it's a rather predictable film but incredibly well directed and again, aesthetically very appealing.
The success of these films by Refn - and other Danish films - is to a great extent due to the fact that Danish actors are extremely good.
Among the Nordic countries I regard the Danish and Norwegian actors being the best, followed by the Finnish and Icelandic.
Being a Swede I (Gunnar) don't think we have the same high standard among actors in Sweden compared to our neighbours.
In this film we meet Leo a violent man who finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant.
He is not at all mature enough taking on a responsibility like a child and his only identity seem to be violence and crime.
To this one can add that he is suspicous concerning whether or not he's actually the father and he also dislikes that his girlfriends brother - a man with no higher moral standards either (more than 'protecting' his sister) - interfer in their private life.
One of his friends is called Lenny, a likewise 'boyish', immature, unintellectual man, (Mads Mikkelsen) living life through the films he sells in a video shop.
He meets a girl working as a waitress and living her life through books, a meeting that changes both their lives.
Well I don't have to tell more than this. When it comes to narrative it's a rather predictable film but incredibly well directed and again, aesthetically very appealing.
The success of these films by Refn - and other Danish films - is to a great extent due to the fact that Danish actors are extremely good.
Among the Nordic countries I regard the Danish and Norwegian actors being the best, followed by the Finnish and Icelandic.
Being a Swede I (Gunnar) don't think we have the same high standard among actors in Sweden compared to our neighbours.
En Eaux Troubles (De Usynlige in Norwegian and Troubled Water in English) by Erik Poppe is next.
In 2005, at the Norwegian Film Festival, Kjempegreit, we saw his film Hawaii-Oslo, a 'Short Cut'-inspired film, telling a story from different angles.
In this film about a woman whos child is kidnapped (for mysterious reasons) by two young men who incidantally causes the death of her boy, Poppe tries to use the same techic.
It's a story about guilt, anger, the possibilities to go on with your life though you have committed a terrible crime or lost someone you love, moral issues of a certain interest.
However, in this film the 'short cut'-technic becomes an obsession making the film rather repetitive and actually not adding anything to our understanding of these issues.
It feels more as if Poppe wanted to try this concept again, only from an aesthetically or tematic point of view.
It prolongs the film but doesn't add anything substantial to this œuvre.
Good acting and a interesting scenario but not more than that.
In 2005, at the Norwegian Film Festival, Kjempegreit, we saw his film Hawaii-Oslo, a 'Short Cut'-inspired film, telling a story from different angles.
In this film about a woman whos child is kidnapped (for mysterious reasons) by two young men who incidantally causes the death of her boy, Poppe tries to use the same techic.
It's a story about guilt, anger, the possibilities to go on with your life though you have committed a terrible crime or lost someone you love, moral issues of a certain interest.
However, in this film the 'short cut'-technic becomes an obsession making the film rather repetitive and actually not adding anything to our understanding of these issues.
It feels more as if Poppe wanted to try this concept again, only from an aesthetically or tematic point of view.
It prolongs the film but doesn't add anything substantial to this œuvre.
Good acting and a interesting scenario but not more than that.
Inside Job (Fear X) is Refns first(?) film using Amercian actors.
Harry works as a security guard and one day his wife is brutally murdered, her body found next to the body of a policeman.
He starts to go through the surveillance tapes in order to find a clue to the death of his wife - as the police doesn't seem eager to follow it up - and one day he finds clues leading him to the house opposite the street.
He becomes obsessed with this 'case' and this leads him deeper and deeper into other mysteries and also deeper into his own psyche.
Is he a victim of his own mind or has he found something substantial?
In this case as in many others, the idea is good but the implementation less impressing.
It's by no means a bad film but it doesn't seem to be coherent in its narrative.
I also get the impression that Refn is a better director when it comes to directing 'his' Danish actors than when it comes to American or foreign actors, judging from this film.
Harry works as a security guard and one day his wife is brutally murdered, her body found next to the body of a policeman.
He starts to go through the surveillance tapes in order to find a clue to the death of his wife - as the police doesn't seem eager to follow it up - and one day he finds clues leading him to the house opposite the street.
He becomes obsessed with this 'case' and this leads him deeper and deeper into other mysteries and also deeper into his own psyche.
Is he a victim of his own mind or has he found something substantial?
In this case as in many others, the idea is good but the implementation less impressing.
It's by no means a bad film but it doesn't seem to be coherent in its narrative.
I also get the impression that Refn is a better director when it comes to directing 'his' Danish actors than when it comes to American or foreign actors, judging from this film.
Nord (North) by Rune Denstad Langlo is a very entertaining and charming 'road movie'.
At the Norwegian Film Festival in Stockholm (mentioned above) we saw Langlo's film 'Alt for Norge', a film we liked very much.
In this film we meet ski athlete Jomar working at a ski park but afflicted by depressions.
To flee these depressions and nervous problems, he starts a journey towards the norhtern parts of Norway, as he is convinced that he will find the necessary tranquility there.
On this trip he come to meet a lot of singular (unique) individuals, enriching his life and making him see that he is not the only one with problems in life. He also learns that even if you have problems you can be at ease with yourself.
This not least through a meeting with a Same/Lapp who commit suicide in a very personal way.
Jomar takes advantage of people though but in the end he seems to have found his Schlaraffenland or was perhaps the journey the most important part - not the goal?
Aurore voted for this film and I fully understand this as it was incredibly charming.
At the Norwegian Film Festival in Stockholm (mentioned above) we saw Langlo's film 'Alt for Norge', a film we liked very much.
In this film we meet ski athlete Jomar working at a ski park but afflicted by depressions.
To flee these depressions and nervous problems, he starts a journey towards the norhtern parts of Norway, as he is convinced that he will find the necessary tranquility there.
On this trip he come to meet a lot of singular (unique) individuals, enriching his life and making him see that he is not the only one with problems in life. He also learns that even if you have problems you can be at ease with yourself.
This not least through a meeting with a Same/Lapp who commit suicide in a very personal way.
Jomar takes advantage of people though but in the end he seems to have found his Schlaraffenland or was perhaps the journey the most important part - not the goal?
Aurore voted for this film and I fully understand this as it was incredibly charming.
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