Elskling

I have rarely seen a more obvious Oscar candidate for "Best Picture". It goes straight to the heart, almost attacking the souls of anyone who has experienced a, let's say, normal romantic relationship that lasted beyond the honeymoon phase and ended in a breakup.

You could hear a pin drop in the theater from start to finish. Especially in the second half, it was intense-a psychological shaking that pulls and tugs at the audience, yet restrained and understated, which made the impact even more powerful.

Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir, who also wrote the screenplay and designed the costumes, has created the best film of the year. She has brought on Norwegian actors, relatively unknown, to deliver performances of absolute world-class caliber.

I don't usually watch movies like these, and as a man, romance / drama is really not my cup of tea most of the time. But I wanted to watch this movie because the premise seemed interesting. This movie is way more interesting than it looks at first glance and definitely goes deep inside the human psyche. Goes to show how our family dynamics really affect how we evolve as adults and how ego and personal insecurities can ruin good, loving relationships. The main actress is awesome. I was in awe of her performance from the start of the movie, till the credits. She could have been a Hollywood star if she had been in the US.

9/10 definitely recommend.

First of all, for a 20's movie, this is original. Of course there have been many similar, older movies, however most of drama movies nowadays are repetitive, they have nothing new to say, they keep parroting the same ideas and themes like they were made in the same lab. LOVEABLE dares to be different. There is also a lot of creativity and brilliance here. I must confess that i didn't understand this movie at first. During the first 30-40 minutes, i didn't even like it. Actors with zero charisma, flat acting performances, the whole premise was boring and i was not even sure of i should kept watching it.

As the movie was progressing, i understood there is something deeper, and i was looking only on the surface. I won't be more specific in order to avoid spoilers, but i will say that this is getting better by the minute. LOVEABLE is a journey. I had forgotten this kind of movies, nowadays there are no journeys in movies, characters stay the same or the changes they're going through are unrealistic and shallow. LOVEABLE is a movie with depth, transformative experience not only for the leading character but maybe even for some viewers. And the actors should look like everyday people, not like Holywood stars.

Ending was very emotional but hard earned, it had nothing to do with a shallow and meanigless happy ending or an emotionally blackmailing sad ending.

I can't rate it higher because i didn't even like the first half. But this first half was necessary in order for the second to exist. If i was more mature, i would have rated it higher.

A passionate relationship leads to marriage and children, and seven years later they find themselves stuck in what might just be an all-too recognisable urban family hell in the post-women's lib era, in which none of the members of the household feel they get the time, space, attention, and love they deserve and need. None more so than wife and mother of four, Maria (Helga Guren), who detests her husband's every hint of happiness and achievement in light of her own lack of such. When she lashes out at him one final time, his patience and tolerance are pushed to the brink, and he becomes cold and disinterested. First-time director Lilja Ingolfsdottir creates interpersonal drama with a depth and magnitude that even Ingmar Bergmann would be proud of. Elskling scrutinises its characters and relationships relentlessly, never allowing them (or us) the slightest respite from their own shortcomings or self-pity. There is an optimism in Ingolfsdottir's work, but it is well-hidden under the characters' defiance, insecurities, and rationalisations, and once we finally get to the much-awaited catharsis, it's not a typical movie catharsis of our protagonist changing her ways, but of her having slowly realised and come to terms with some of the mechanisms behind her problems. Elskling is a powerful, demanding and sometimes funny drama that isn't designed to make you happy, except perhaps about your own life as the credits start rolling. There are strong, stripped-down performances by the two lead actors, especially Guren.

Lilja Ingolfsdottir " Elskling " is probably the most powerful and best Norwegian film I have seen since ØYENSTIKKER of Marius Holst, 23 years ago . Nothing compares. It makes every other Norwegian film work I have seen since , look amateurish, except for a very few, like " Armand " and " The worst Person in the World" . Naturally they're a few more. It's hard to make a great film . I know it personally. It's even rarer to see a filmwork that moves your heart and mind in such a way that you can't let it out of your mind for a few days . Possibly weeks. I remember watching the anti war movie of Elem Klimov "Come and See " and the way it haunted me for months. I recently rewatched " Amour "by Michael Hanneke " and was amazed again how a director is capable of brutally bring true " LIFE" on screen through his masterly work of actors and unique personal film language . Elskling has that honesty and rawness . It's has no flaws . It's brilliantly directed and executed. It moves you powerfully. Lilja Ingolfsdottir is a true mature and gifted director that brings her actors in an emotional landscape that is difficult to bring out on screen . She does it without any mistakes . All the actors bring to the screen an amazing performance . Helga Guren, Oddeir Thune and Elisabeth Sand deliver an incredible performance that hits home right through our rib cage . It rings so true like it rarely does .

This film could have easily fallen apart and drown into unnecessary pathos. Instead, it intelligently dwells into the most difficult subject that touches our lives with an honesty that is disarming. Love and relationships. Like John Cassavete, Hanneke s or Jaques Audiard , Lilja Ingolfsdottir uses a very personal film language and knowledge, to reveal the subtleties and contradictions of our emotional makeup . She reveals the complexity of our feelings in the way we communicate with each others through our ordinary lives . She never uses the easy cliches and tricks of the commercial trade that so many uses . No. Not once she takes that easy road that so many film makers take. Instead, she has an inner instinct and film ability , that only a great sensitive film director can acquire with the years. Some manage to get it at a young age like Xavier Dolan. But most film makers struggle to find their own personal voice, due partly by the demands of the commercial film industry and the producers . But often it's because they don't have a story to tell or because they aren't really yet film directors. But here in Elsking, Lilja Ingolfsdottir is backed by the talented producer Thomas Robsahm and this is essential if you are going to make a strong personal film.

It's truly a brilliant and beautiful film to watch . À hymn to love , that I hope will inspire other film makers in Norway . It demonstrate what is so often , missing in their films. Soul . Credibility. Truth. And most of all ,the daring to be personal, to be naked in front of your audience . Bravo Lilja Ingolfsdottir. And thank you for your story and courage to do it .

I shall watch it again at the cinema before it leaves the big screen.