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Reviews
Heftig og begeistret (2001)
Endearing and Humorous
Cool and Crazy is a heartwarming documentary that follows the lives, thoughts and conversations of the men in a small-town Norwegian choir. The film is characterized by its firm position in the normal and everyday, as well as by an intense focus on the concept of contrast.
In the first part of the documentary, we are introduced to several of the members of the choir, and the setting in which they live. Through imagery that details the capture, cleaning, and processing of fish, it becomes clear that these men live in a small fishing village in Northern Norway, and that many of them earn(ed) their living as fishermen. Cool and Crazy makes no attempt to romanticize these jobs, and gives a realistic portrayal of the nitty gritty aspects of it through imagery of bloody fish heads and fish being processed through the machines. In fact, there is a significant and noticeable attempt in this film to portray everyday actions and conversations in a very realistic and normal way. This is done through conducting interviews in odd places, such as during a bath. This makes us feel like the interview wasn't staged, and we just happened to catch him doing his routine activities. In addition, the topics of conversation are generally nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, they aren't all necessarily even organized around a common theme, sometimes they are just about topics that the interviewee had on his mind at the time, and many of them are just normal conversations that were caught on tape. Although these conversations and topics are often interesting, they involve nothing extraordinary—and to that end, nothing extraordinary happens in the film either. There is no huge, built-up, exciting climax—the closest thing to a climax is the choir's performance in Russia, but even this is just portrayed as another day in the life (although an exciting one). While this technique doesn't make for an exciting and action-filled movie, it is absolutely successful in other ways. The viewer gains respect for these down-to-earth men, who try to be nothing more than they already are.
Another important aspect of the film is the enormous contrasts that are portrayed. In particular, there is a huge contrast between the songs and the setting, in several ways. Firstly, the tone of the songs is jolly and bright, filled with hope and joy. However, the opening scene finds the men performing on the rocky ocean coast, in biting snowy and windy conditions. The men are bundled up in thick coats with red, wind-chapped cheeks, and snow in their beards. Yet not one shiver is shown, and they seem perfectly content performing in these conditions. The next song is performed in the pack house, amid the imagery that was mentioned earlier, of the fish being cleaned and processed. The jolly music, which speaks of the beautiful fish-packing 'ladies' and 'lasses', cuts through the bleak and grim imagery in an interesting way. The contrast between these lower-class fishing and packing jobs, with membership in a distinguished choir—a classy hobby—is ironic and impactful. Another interesting contrasted concept is the lack of religiosity among the choir members—especially seen in the director's comments about being formerly atheistic (and currently agnostic). Yet many of the songs focus on Christian themes of faith.
Contrast is also portrayed in the wide variety of ages in the choir. While the youngest member seems to be in his thirties or forties, the oldest member is ninety-five. Many comparisons are made between the young and old members, and it is emphasized that it is the younger members' duty to take care of the oldest members—and they do a good job. Finally, when the choir takes a trip to Russia for their concert, the contrast between Norway and Russia is very clear—and a long, heated discussion is devoted to emphasizing this fact.
Cool and Crazy is a film that is compelling because of the characters. The men in the choir are endearing, and often funny without knowing that they are. The humor aspect is also due to the striking contrasts. For example, the tone of the songs is humorous when they are filmed in the locations they are.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I would recommend it to most. I would give it an 8/10.
Trolljegeren (2010)
A hopeful film watching experience that falls short
A mockumentary with a compelling pretense, impressive effects and cool camera shots, Troll Hunter presents itself as a great film but ultimately fails to deliver. The story line is uncreative and predictable, and there is a significant lack of character relationships and deeper meaning in the film that is possibly lost on a non-Norwegian audience.
Troll Hunter is presented as a realistic documentary about three college students who follow a gruff and stoic older man named Lars in his secretive government work to control the dangerous troll population in Norway. Following the same pretense as the Blair Witch Project, the prologue at the beginning tells us that the footage was received anonymously. Based on this, we can already assume by the beginning of the film that something will happen to the students that will prevent them from producing the footage themselves and so the plot is more or less predictable. The trolls are also revealed to us within the first few minutes of the film, making all the rest of the troll sightings pretty uneventful and uninteresting. There is very little to look forward to other than wondering about what exactly happens to the students. It is my opinion that the film is quite long, uneventful and dragged out (at least until the cameraman is devoured by a troll), and would have functioned much better as a short film.
Additionally, Troll Hunter seems to have been produced merely for entertainment purposes, as we see very little deep or meaningful themes in the film. For example, the theme of religion is touched upon, as trolls are apparently attracted to the blood of Christians and the cameraman gets gobbled up by a troll because he fails to reveal his religiosity to the rest of the group in time. It is unclear exactly why he is reluctant to admit that he is a Christian— perhaps because he wants to continue with the project, or maybe because he is afraid of being judged. Nonetheless, this subject is disappointingly left untouched—even the reason behind the effect of Christianity is unexplained, leaving, in my opinion, a large gap in the film.
On a similar note, there is also a lack of meaning in the relationships between characters, and very little development of personality. For example, the three students are obviously close friends, however there is surprisingly little meaningful interaction between them demonstrating their closeness. The dialogue seems to be secondary to the camera shots and adds very little to the plot other than providing a strictly functional purpose of telling a story about trolls. I was especially struck when there was very little emotional reaction to the death of the cameraman, and there was absolutely no dialogue about the effect of his absence on the rest of the characters. Indeed the entire film seemed somewhat devoid of any emotion except for panic and fear (but even then, only by certain characters). Additionally, Lars is portrayed as a stereotypical silent and gruff manly man, arguably possessing the most character out of anyone. But even Lars' personality is drastically underdeveloped and un- dynamic. We know very little about him other than that he has given his life away to troll hunting, his troll massacre in the 1970s was traumatic to him, and he likes listening to country music—his personality and back story seem to be bare minimum, as do the rest of the characters'.
Finally, although many interesting details about trolls are revealed (such as the reason for exploding or turning to stone), I also felt that there was much about troll folklore that was left unexplained. However, it is quite possible that this is because I do not have the same background knowledge as the audience for which this film was directed.
Although I can't lie—I did enjoy watching this film—I was left unsatisfied by the lack of creativity and development in the plot, and I would recommend it only to audiences that are strictly interested in action and entertainment and not to anyone who is looking for a deeper film viewing experience.
deUsynlige (2008)
The power of reconciliation and forgiveness
A brilliant yet unsettling film that delves into the aftermath of the tragic murder of a young boy, Troubled Water demonstrates the power of reconciliation and forgiveness, and provides an interesting exploration of the Christian faith. Complex characters and interesting character development bring compassion and emotion to this powerful narrative, while cinematic techniques that present it as mystery-esque produce an altogether compelling storyline.
In the aftermath of Isak's death, the lives of his mother Agnes, and his killer Jan deteriorate around them as they grapple with the gravity of the situation, though in completely different ways. As an ex-con, Jan struggles to form a life outside of prison first by attempting to hide his shameful identity and reinventing himself as "Thomas" the quiet and talented organist. Although we are lead to believe throughout the majority of the film that Jan is innocent, it is revealed at the end that he was indeed a murderer and had withheld this information out of denial, shame and guilt. Likewise, it is clear that Agnes' fixation on the death of her son has begun to take over her life and strain her familial relationships due to her husband Jon's distress and her daughter Selma's dismay and jealousy towards the memory of Isak. Agnes' behavior reaches its climax when she goes so far as to kidnap Jens in an honorable though misdirected rescue attempt, yet almost immediately afterward demonstrates compassion and mercy in her momentous decision to save her son's killer from drowning.
Agnes' ability to forgive Jan and let go of the hatred that she had towards him is incredibly powerful and moving, as is Jan's ability to take responsibility for what he had done. These actions are so striking because they seem inconceivable and unimaginable to most. Much of the explanation behind this capability lies in the religious themes that are presented in the film. Through exchanges between Anna and Jan, Troubled Water gives an intriguing insight into the role of faith in accepting the way of the world. For example, Anna suggests at one point that "good things will come from bad things", and that everything should be left up to God. This becomes a major theme in the film, possibly even justifying the murder of Isak —an interesting concept.
The characters in Troubled Water give enormous depth to the story through their demonstration of complex emotions. This is especially apparent in Jan, who has gone through a huge transformation by the end of the film from a timid self-loathing man who is terrified of getting close to children and is in an incredible amount of denial, to someone who is not only able to form relationships with Anna and Jens, but will fight for and defend those relationships as well. Even Selma, Agnes' young daughter, demonstrates complex emotions— especially for a little girl. It is easy for viewers to sympathize with her struggle to become important and present in her mother's life, as opposed to the replacement child who offers compensation for Isak. Selma's articulation of her jealousy and disappointment shows maturity and wisdom, and gives depth to the film by providing yet another element of the agony associated with Isak's death.
Just as the characters draw the viewer in, cinematic techniques provide an element of mystery keep the viewer engaged. Throughout the film, Troubled Water provides only bits and pieces of the story surrounding Isak's death, cutting in and out of important scenes quickly before we really know what is going on. Recurring themes (the importance of water), relationships (the similarities between Jan's interactions with Isak and Jens) and cinematic techniques (unfocused close-up of Jan's eyes) also help to draw strong parallels between the past and present and help to fill in some of the holes—but only enough to keep the viewer completely engaged and wanting more. Additional cinematic techniques such as shots in which the camera is unfocused on the action, the use of shadows, and slow close-up pans present the story slowly and give an element of mystery to the film.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed with this film. It raises questions that are crucial to understanding human relationships—how does one move on from the death of a child? How does one forgive, and is forgiveness even possible? And what role does faith play in the drive and ability to forgive, can we place blame or does everything truly happen for a reason? Although Troubled Water fully explores these themes, the most compelling part about the film is that they are mostly unanswered, leaving the viewer thinking.
101 Reykjavík (2000)
A Long and Unpleasant Road Towards Adulthood
What starts off as a typical tale about a slacker morphs deliberately into a coming-of-age exploration of sexuality, romantic relationships, and self-discovery—all wrapped up in a dark comedy. 101 Reykjavik starts off quite slow and almost loses the viewer with its melancholy tone and a main character who is close to impossible to identify with, yet redeems itself through an odd, quirky and amusing storyline.
Much of the film focuses on 30 year old Hlynur's struggle to deal with adult concepts; moving out of his mother's house, taking care of himself, finding a job, and establishing mature relationships with those around him. Hlynur spends the majority of his time watching porn, getting drunk at the local bar, living off unemployment checks and allowing his mother to feed, clothe and clean up after him. His relationships with women are a disaster and lack any real meaning because he seems unable (or refuses) to connect with anyone outside of sex.
His immaturity is especially revealed once his mother's flamenco instructor—Lola moves in. Hlynur falls for her although he is ignorant of the fact that Lola is actually his mother's lesbian lover, something that he soon discovers upon his mother's return home (along with the discovery that Lola is pregnant with his child). Hlynur has no idea how to handle the situation, and he reacts with jealousy and resentment (that seems to have oedipal tendencies), and outbursts of jeering contempt. Eventually he moves out, although surprisingly this seems to do little to change his enduring slacker attitude in the short term.
Hlynur's self-conceptualization throughout the film is characterized by his stubborn refusal to lead a life of any real meaning for the majority of the film, and his frustrating but revealing conversation with Lola where she accuses him of being unable to have human relationships and tells him to get a life, and he responds by asking her what life is. Although his process towards self-discovery is painfully slow and loses the viewer at times through frustration with his stubborn reluctance to be a relational human being, over time, his mother's revealing of her relationship with Lola drives Hlynur to do some deep processing and pondering about his relationship with his mother, his romantic relationships (or lack thereof) with other women, the meaning of sexuality, and his place in the world. As he quotes towards the end of the film, "
the lesbian is a relative newcomer to Icelandic nature. She is thought to have migrated from Denmark and Britain. Her only contact with the male bird is during conception. In recent years we have witnessed cases of male birds... who are unable to fly at all. The offspring of a boozer and a lesbian is the Hlynur... an unusually slow developer that can't fly... and remains with his mother for the first 30 years. The Hlynur is defensive by nature, but harmless."
By the end of the film, we see Hlynur giving his daughter/step-sister a bath, having a meaningful relationship with a woman, and performing his duties as a traffic cop. It is uplifting and satisfying to find him successful and relational, but it took entirely too long.
101 Reykjavik is a successful film in its distinct characterization of certain elements of the Norwave movement such as the "mama's boy" theme, its portrayal of Nordic culture in the Welfare state, Hlynur's outsider existence, and the emphasis on the contrast between rural and urban culture in Hlynur's feeling of being trapped in a small rural country. However, I found the plot too slow moving and very hard to relate to. I was distracted by my frustration with Hlynur's personality and his inability to connect with people. Although the plot was amusing enough to keep me from entirely giving up on this film, I was unable to identify with any of the characters and so I found myself uninterested and disconnected. The resolution at the end of the movie and Hlynur's ultimate self-discovery took up less than five minutes of the entire film, which seemed like an enormous build-up for very little pay off. Overall, the movie was not horrible, but I probably would not recommend it to a friend.