Admittedly I don't know much about Norway nor I have watched many Norwegian films, and I know this one film couldn't be representative of the nation's social milieu... Yet, I must say the emotional intelligence and calmness this film portrayed was most impressive for me.
Depending on where you're from or what you stand for, the subject matter of 'Sex' might be uncomfortable for you. 2 straight married guys in their 40s - one just had a spontaneous sex with a male client, and the other, a Christian no less, feels something unraveling in him with the recurring dreams about David Bowie looking at him 'as if he were a woman'. Imagine they talk about it with each other and with their wives. In almost any other countries, I could picture scenes of shocks, emotional outbursts, quarrels, accusations or denial - dramas in other words.
It's different in Norway, or at least in this film. People are willing to talk and willing to listen without attempt to defuse, contradict, argue, intimidate or emotionally manipulate. The 2 protagonists aren't even intellectuals. They are chimney sweepers (I imagine it's considered as professionals in their own right, nevertheless more manual labourers). But even when they interact with each other, there's no usual put up of blocky masculine display. In every interaction with each character, they all seem to calmly meet each other on the eye level without having to play the expected social role.
The overall presentation of the film adds to that quality. The film is almost entirely consisted with scenes of conversations and the cityscape shots in between. All the conversations are shot in long takes with just occasional shift of angles or zoom ins and outs, showing the conversation and expressions in real time. What is said itself also remains very realistic, with occasional fumble with words or backtracking of thoughts. With no flash cuts, scene changes or dynamic camera moves, the film gently encourages its audience to join in the conversation and listen, rather than get emotionally stimulated and react.
I'm not saying it's all perfect in Norway. There are emotional distress that words cannot fully express, there are moments of hypocrisy, broken communication, and ultimately the inability to fully understand each other. Nor you may not fully agree with the situation and the message of this work. But the mature attitude 'Sex' shows in human interactions was by itself touching and represents something we all should learn in this time of extreme polarity and instant stimulus everywhere.
