'Sult' ('Hunger'/'La faim') is a film that affect the viewer in many different ways.
First of all one can establish that the sense of hunger and poverty is felt all over the film.
This is to a great extent due to the fantastic acting by Per Oscarsson (recently deceased), who convey the desperation of a person totally hunger-bitten.
The work of the director, Henning Carlsen, is of course very important.
The director has created milieus and an atmosphere that throw the viewer right into the very depths of poverty and starvation with different stratas of society meeting but yet not.
The main character, Pontus (Per Oscarsson) is a writer/journalist trying to get his latest article published.
His hunger makes him creative and the work proceeds at a good pace.
The problem is that the editor always is busy and never seem to have time looking at his oeuvre.
Meanwhile Pontus tries to get along by eating the scrap he can find in his cupboards and elsewhere.
Unfortunately for him, he can't stay in the apartment he's renting as he has no money to pay the rent for.
When evicted from his apartment, he naturally finds himself in a situation where he can't concentrate on writing but is forced to look for a place to live.
Finally the editor decide to publish Pontus' article but first he has to make som changes in the text. Will he be able to do that?
The story circles around this very nightmarish subsistence, back and forth between hope and despair.
On the same time it deals with the question about creativity in connection to poverty and richness.
The author Knut Hamsun, evidently wanted to say that poor circumstances is the mother of all - the best - creativity.
This is of course a truth with modification, as all of us having experienced poverty know.
In this case the creativity might be hightened when Pontus starves but on the same time, he lacks the physical strenght to carry on with his work.
I (Gunnar) haven't read the book but Aurore has and she says that the film in a truthful way follows Hamsun's book and this is of course to a great extent thanks to the director but also to Per Oscarsson in this his magnificent interpretation.
First of all one can establish that the sense of hunger and poverty is felt all over the film.
This is to a great extent due to the fantastic acting by Per Oscarsson (recently deceased), who convey the desperation of a person totally hunger-bitten.
The work of the director, Henning Carlsen, is of course very important.
The director has created milieus and an atmosphere that throw the viewer right into the very depths of poverty and starvation with different stratas of society meeting but yet not.
The main character, Pontus (Per Oscarsson) is a writer/journalist trying to get his latest article published.
His hunger makes him creative and the work proceeds at a good pace.
The problem is that the editor always is busy and never seem to have time looking at his oeuvre.
Meanwhile Pontus tries to get along by eating the scrap he can find in his cupboards and elsewhere.
Unfortunately for him, he can't stay in the apartment he's renting as he has no money to pay the rent for.
When evicted from his apartment, he naturally finds himself in a situation where he can't concentrate on writing but is forced to look for a place to live.
Finally the editor decide to publish Pontus' article but first he has to make som changes in the text. Will he be able to do that?
The story circles around this very nightmarish subsistence, back and forth between hope and despair.
On the same time it deals with the question about creativity in connection to poverty and richness.
The author Knut Hamsun, evidently wanted to say that poor circumstances is the mother of all - the best - creativity.
This is of course a truth with modification, as all of us having experienced poverty know.
In this case the creativity might be hightened when Pontus starves but on the same time, he lacks the physical strenght to carry on with his work.
I (Gunnar) haven't read the book but Aurore has and she says that the film in a truthful way follows Hamsun's book and this is of course to a great extent thanks to the director but also to Per Oscarsson in this his magnificent interpretation.
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