The Mountain

This is overambitious. It tries to problematize surrogate motherhood and the feelings this gives towards the respective parents and lesbian parenthood in itself. You see one of the characters read Bergmans 'Fanny och Alexander' at one point, but that is a huge contrast to this movie's drama. It needs a bit psychological depth than the ones accusation of not doing this and that the right way and the other not understanding and looking away or getting emotional in return, at least to measure itself against a master like Bergman. Someone like Jon Fosse should have helped with the screenplay.

The actresses are not very good, both giving a one sided performance.

However using mountains as locations is underestimated, so kudos for bringing the equipment out into harsh weather to bring the beauty to the audience.

Fjellet (The mountain) is a slow paced story about young women who are hiking in beautiful scenery in the Norwegian mountains in late autumn time, walking towards a mountain, two years after a traumatic event happening at the same place. One of them has brought the other back to make her open more after the happening back then.

We sense that something is between them, which has put a difficult strung on their relationship. The more they talk, this comes stronger upon us, resulting in bickering and quarreling. We understand that they are more than friends, just that they have drifted apart. Will this be trip repair their relationship back to what it once was? We understand that great love in some way was ruined by this trip two years ago. And what did really happen back then when they lost their common son, five year old Vetle?

This is a film about dealing with deep sorrow, and the redemption, with a underlying terror. The Two actors, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Marte Magnusdotter Solem are doing great job, and the mountain, or rather the nature and weather is the third actor here, being background for thoughts and making the pace of the movie and the trip. It's a subtle and slow told story which allows lots of thoughts and emotion.

A beautiful film, only if you can stand a slow one. This us not everybody's cup of tea. Many will think there's nothing happening here. And they're right. All is happening on an emotional level and the fact that they really are not equally the mother of the child.

The problem is the lack of plot. We're not that lost in the story. Well done, but too boring if you're not very into this kind of loss yourself.