OJT

Bastard (The Mongrel) is a Norwegian-Swedish film from 1940, which in Sweden was titled "Vildmarkens sång" (Song of the Wilderness).

Bastard was a collaboration between Norwegian Lunde-Film and Swedish Svea Film AB. In Norway, Helge Lunde was credited as director, while Norwegian born Swede Gösta Stevens was credited as director in Sweden. In reality, the Norwegian was responsible for all the nature and hunting shots, while his Swedish colleague took care of interior scenes and person directing.

Helge Lunde started producing films in the silent era, and his first film was the silent "Troll-elgen", based on two novels by Mikkjel Fønhus. In 1929 Lunde produced the great "Laila", set in Lapland, but his directorial debut was with "Sangen om Rondane" (1934).

Lunde wrote the script for Bastard based on the short story by German F. W. Remmler. It's about the Siberian hunter Burtaj, who reckons himself as a "bastard", just like the wolfhound in the film. He was a mix between a hunter and a farmer, and the film starts off with his hunting father being badly injured by a farmer, on his deathbed, revealing the son is a bastard. Burtai is later involved in a conflict revolving around love, old enmity, and deadly retribution.

Lunde was a committed outdoorsman and spent a lot of time preparing the scenes in the film, also training the hawks. The outdoor scenes were later particularly praised by the critics. Parts of the wilderness footage were bought by another British production company, which used the material in the film "Valley Of Eagles" (1951), where the Norwegian star actor Alfred Maurstad also starred, as in this film.

The film was filmed during two winters and was a rather costly production.

Bastard had its Norwegian premiere in Oslo on the 8th of February 1940, just two months before Nazi Germany invaded Norway. The Swedish premiere was three days earlier, and Denmark was the first foreign country on February 14th. In 1941, it became the first Norwegian film to win the Biennale Plaque at the Venice Film Festival.

I feel the film is kinda uneven. The story is interesting, and nature-filming is great. Still, the person directing has a feel of older movies from the silent era. This is odd, since Stevens started off directing in 1932.

Some of the storytelling feels forced, and the film feels like a 1925 movie. Still, the film is quite enjoyable.

The acting is rather unremarkable, but the main role by Georg Løkkeberg is well played. Signe Hasso, playing the love interest Aitango, just after this film went to Hollywood, became a star, and even if she participated in some Swedish movies after this, he was Hollywood inventory there participating in almost 100 productions until she died in L. A. 2002.

Alfred Maurstad (Wasilj) went on to have a great career in Norway, both in film and theater, also participating in a lot of foreign films.

This movie was made available in 2025 when it was released on interregional (region-free) Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the 79th release in a new series with classics, NFK0079, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers. The film is also a part of the releases from "Filmskatten AS" under NFK.

Høvdingen (The Chieftain) is director Terje Kristiansen's only feature film, produced by him and his wife, the more prominent filmmaker Vibeke Løkkeberg.

We meet a man, the glass artist Arne Strømberg, who is troubled by most in his life. A dysfunctional family, having an affair... Struggling to get by at work and at home, fixing up an old house. He is not happy, and the nagging really gets to him. His manhood is challenged. He goes crazy, to state it as it is.

The music is very suitable, made by Bøhren/Åserud, the most acclaimed Norwegian movie composers af all time.

It's a lively film, with lots of drama and quarreling.

I really don't like the way he treats animals. I realise he is not hurting them for real, but I hate to see it anyway. So much that is also partly sets down the score.

The movie had a great turnout to cinemas after release, and also got quite a few good reviews. It won the prize "The Silverlump" and was nominated to the very First Amanda prize, which went to another Bøhren/Åserud scored movie, "Orion's Belt".

I must admit I gave the movie a 1/10 when I saw it back then, and watching it 40 years later tells me it's really not that bad at all.

Fun to see film critic Arne Hestenes in the role of the boss Kåre. He does a great job. There are also some well-known actors in the film, in smaller roles. Sigbjørn Berholft Osa as the grandfather does a splendid job.

The movie has been kind of lost for the public for decades, as it hasn't been distributed on VHS or DVD, like most of its fellow classics have. When it finally gets a a Blu-Ray Disc release, it's quite a big event. The copy is simply great.

This movie is made available in 2025 when it was released on interregional (region-free) Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the 82nd release in a new series with classics, NFK0082, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers. The film is also a part of "The Norwegian Film Heritage" series from Norwegian Film Distribution.

In the power of youth (I ungdommens makt) is Roar Skolmens debut feature. A vibrant film which is reckoned as a pure cult movie.

The movie about the youth leader Arbo Youthleader is a strange and quite ridiculous poetic movie which is impossible to describe. Except: He tries to start a youth revolt, which he both manages and regrets during the movie.

Filmed in the richest municipality in Norway, Bærum, with 350 teenage youths as participants, Roar Skolen (Arbo = almost Roar?) himself plays Arbo, a penis fixated male with more questions than answers, running around naked half of the time.

There are a couple of professional actors in the movie, but the movie is dominated by amateur youths, and it makes the movie feel like a school project. It's a mess, but still I celebrate the fact is has been released to the public. Thankfully Norwegian movies have gone a long, long way since then.

Some say this would be reckoned a masterpiece in France during the New wave, but I don't think so. I don't find the movie very funny, although it is laughable. Maybe it would help watching it, being a little drunk, at a movie party?

The movie was trashed by critics after the premiere in the autumn 1980. So badly this is since called "The september murder" in Norwegian film history, as it was trashed together with another cult movie "The Stone Wood Witches" by Bredo Greve. I think Roar Skolmen already, while making it, knew he would be crucified for making it, so he already is just that in the movie.

Filmed in 1.37:1 in vibrant colours, the film is both a fable, a fantasy and a comedy-drama. Music is all from great to exhausting.

The movie has been kind of lost for the public for decades, as it hasn't been distributed on VHS or DVD, or any other physical medium, and only shown in cult cinemas since its release. When it finally gets a a Blu-Ray Disc release, it's quite a big event.

This movie is made available in 2025 when it was released on interregional (region-free) Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the 74th release in a new series with classics, NFK0074, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers. The film is also a part of releases from "Filmskatten AS" under NFK.