Director Erik Skjoldbjærg (Insomnia, Prozac Nation) comes back with a stunning, high-intensity mix between art-house and heist movie - and thus redefines the genre. Based on real events, the film is a multi-plot run-through of the hours before and the first 25 minutes into Norway's most spectacular robbery (Easter 2004).
The movie has echoes of both Gus Van Sant's Elephant and United 93, and the final shootout bears resemblance to the corresponding scene in Heat, although this time it's "for real".
The Nokas robbery was already highly mythologized in Norwegian media, and I was very eager to see how the movie related to those myths. Which it didn't at all - and thereby contrasts the media circus around the event. A very sober and intelligent approach.
Nokas works remarkably well with its low-key, hand-held presence. The nerve of the event grabs you from the beginning, and carries you through to the brilliant last shot, where the true human impact of the event is felt through the eyes of a bus driver who, against his will, was drawn into the event.
The movie has echoes of both Gus Van Sant's Elephant and United 93, and the final shootout bears resemblance to the corresponding scene in Heat, although this time it's "for real".
The Nokas robbery was already highly mythologized in Norwegian media, and I was very eager to see how the movie related to those myths. Which it didn't at all - and thereby contrasts the media circus around the event. A very sober and intelligent approach.
Nokas works remarkably well with its low-key, hand-held presence. The nerve of the event grabs you from the beginning, and carries you through to the brilliant last shot, where the true human impact of the event is felt through the eyes of a bus driver who, against his will, was drawn into the event.