Nord

I saw this last month at the 2010 Palm Springs International film Festival. This is a quirky dark comedy written for the screen by Erlend Loe who also wrote a book that another great quirky Norwegian film was adapted from recently called in it's English title Gone with the Woman. Nord reminded me an an abstract sense of the film Little Big Man where the lead character goes through a journey meeting a wide variety of people along the way in wonderful small on screen roles with even an old wise and worldly Saami fisherman waiting to die instead of an old wise and worldly native American waiting to die. Jomar (Anders Bassmo Christiansen) is a former skier who works at a ski hill and has battled alcoholism and has been hospitalized with psychiatric problems since he lost his girlfriend five years earlier. After a fight with his former best friend Lasse (Kyree Hellum) he learns his former girlfriend had a son by him so he sets out on a snowmobile for an improbably long journey of a few hundred miles to northern Norway near the arctic circle. He meets along the way some very isolated people in Lotte (Marte Aumemo) and her grandmother, Ulrik (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen), and Ailo and his granddaughter. (Lars Olsen). Excellent winter scape cinematography by Phillip Øgaard and smartly directed by Rune Denstad Langlo this is not a long film and it's definitely worth a look. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it.

(2009) North/ Nord (In Norwegian with English subtitles) DRAMA

Watching this movie reminded me of a Norwegian western since it has him snowmobiling from place to place, shack to shack, who smokes always asking for booze except that it's through the gorgeous snowy climate. Sometimes he steals things from other peoples barns for the tools he needs. The thin plot device only serves as a backdrop to the vast snowy landscapes the average Norwegian citizen lives on, which is no different than any desert people cross through throughout the world. It stars Anders Baasmo Christiansen as one-time skier Jomar Henriksen who works at a ski resort who gets a passerby visit from a friend. Jomar's friend informs him that his son misses his biological dad, even though it was him that Jomar's ex had cheated on and then left with, creating an awkward rift. Jomar is not motivated to see his son until an unfortunate circumstance were to happen, and that is when he ends up burning the resort where he'd been staying in which he has to go somewhere up "north"- hence the title. One of my favorite highlights is when Jomar gets taken in by a little girl who lives with her grandmother when he got freezer burn on his eyes. This movie is not for all tastes since it can be deemed as slow and subtle. Some of the characters Jomar meets along the way are eccentric and quirky which is what keeps this film interesting.

North is the story of a 30 year old man that says enough is enough. Suffering from anxiety, he's a visibly distraught fellow; appearing lethargic and care-free. After hearing unwanted news from his doctor, a heated discussion with a past friend, and an entirely preventable fire that most likely ruins his livelihood…he takes matters into his own hands, and takes off, heading North to where his hope waits.

The theme here isn't hidden, it's smack right in your face. When you feel like life is giving you a difficult time, and that you're the only one going through such misfortunes, you're not. There are people out there who have it difficult as well, but they continue, even with their unwavering conditions, to persevere and go on. Noticing and appreciating life, and accepting what life gives you, and everything that it has to offer is what North is all about.

At it's exterior, beautiful Norwegian arctic conditions play the backdrop here, which are blanketed by a folk-travel inspired soundtrack that gives you warmth as you watch our lead trek through the cold. And when including the feeling of isolation that comes with the amazing landscape, you're given even more satisfaction than just what the story itself has to offer. Our leading actor, a heavy built and emotional lumberjack of a man, leads and shares the film with a few side-characters, and all deliver their performances as well as you'd hope. Some making you question their behavior, and some where you almost immediately come to sympathize for.

To me, as I mentioned above, Nord was about appreciating life. And with that said, I'm not entirely sure if this movie is for everyone, as some people may just not relate to the deeper aspects here. Some people also just aren't empathetic cinematically, especially with such simple approaches. But if you do appreciate a simple story that mixes charm, beauty and many chances to ponder, you should come out of the film as happy as I did.

Unassuming little movie about a sad man who has trouble fitting in, no matter where he goes. Leaving a trail of smoking shacks and burning barns, Jomar is headed north on his snow mobile to seek out his son. He doesn't always travel in a straight line, but who said you have to? On the way, he meets his share of strangers, some of them friendly, others not so friendly. But then, Jomar isn't the most easy-going of visitors himself. You might say he is on an educational journey, but the lessons aren't all that clear. Among other things, he finds out about a unique way to get drunk that involves a razor, a patch of sandpaper, and a tampon. He also learns about the ancient art of springtime suicide as practiced by the tribal elders of Troms County. Cheating death more than once in the unforgiving wilderness of Northern Norway, he is finally given back to life. - Nice, eclectic soundtrack with some rare roots tracks.

I felt that this film had a problem with the lack of story.

Somehow the film starts brilliantly and there is a brilliant scene with a teenager boy who has, at the least to say, a lot of problems.

Those were the brilliant parts of the film. I thought after the first 15 minutes, that this is going to be a masterpiece, but then it just dies. The plot vanishes and somehow the ending doesn't give enough to justify the lack of the plot.

The main actor does a fantastic job and there is a lot of good in the cinematography, although I sometimes felt that this was an advertisement of Norway. There were so many landscape shots that you could easily get bored with them.

The music choice was also a little bit odd. It sounded like a country-tune coming straight from Texas. Do people like country music in Norway? Even with it's problems, it is a nice film to watch as an voice from Norway.