Tag: norway

22 JULY – Review

(left-right) Brothers Torje (Isak Bakli Aglen) and Viljar Hanssen (Jonas Strand Gravli) hide from terrorist Anders Breivik, in 22 JULY. Photo credit: Erik Aavatsmark. Courtesy of Netflix ©

July 22, 2011 is the date of the horrific terrorist attack in Norway when 77 people, mostly children, were massacred by a right-wing extremist. 22 JULY is director Paul Greengrass’ powerful, tense docu-drama about that tragedy, but the film is more about Norway and the people attacked than about home-grown right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik and his attack.

Paul Greengrass has built a reputation for gripping and strikingly realistic films about actual events with CAPTAIN PHILLIPS and UNITED 93, but has built a reputation for taut thrillers with the Bourne movies. Greengrass brings both skills to bear in 22 JULY, crafting a tension-filled film, but focuses less on the attack and more on its aftermath. Greengrass also wrote the script, based on journalist Asne Seierstad’s book “One of Us.” The attack took place in Norway but the film is in English.

Although this 2011 terror attack shocked peaceful Norway, it was less like America’s 9/11 attack than the Oklahoma bombing. This was a home-grown terrorist with right-wing extremist views, not an attack from outside the country.

Breivik gunned down teenagers at an island summer camp after setting off a bomb at the government center in Oslo. His intention with his truck bomb was to kill the Prime Minister, as well as other leaders of the Norwegian government. He did kill 8 people but not the prime minister. Breivik dressed as a policeman for his attack, and after lighting the bomb’s fuse, drove to remote, scenic Utoya Island, took a ferry to the island and systematically shot the teenagers at the camp for children of Norway’s labor party.

Like CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, 22 JULY shows an emotional restraint and favors a just the facts approach that allows the dramatic feeling to evolve organically out of the human interactions. Greengrass handles to attack with particular skill, shifting attention away from the blood to focus on the fear felt by the campers as they fled and hid from the attacker. Breivik is shown coldly and ruthlessly hunting down the teens, only once with a burst of rage as he shoots campers huddled in a building, calling them “Marxists and liberals.” Before and after the attack, Breivik rails against “forced multiculturalism” and spouts neo-Nazi views.

The real focus of Breivik’s attack was Norwegian society and the film strives for some balance, giving both Breivik and those attacked a chance to speak, although that is done largely through personal conversations. The film moves back and forth between Breivik and those he attacked, primarily one teen survivor wounded in the attack, Viljar.

The gifted Anders Danielsen Lie plays terrorist Anders Behring Breivik with chilling power. Although others share Breivik’s right-wing viewpoints on immigration and multiculturalism, Breivik seems to have acted alone in the attack, although he claimed to be the leader of an anti-immigrant organization. He starts out defiant and seemingly having the upper hand as he speaks to authorities but is soon exposed as a loner with a troubled childhood.

As teen survivor Viljar Hanssen, Jonas Strand Gravli is outstanding. His expressive face conveys haunting and complex feelings, as he first tries to protect his younger brother Torje (Isak Bakli Aglen) during the attack, and then as he struggles to recover from his injuries, wounded leg and hand, the loss of a eye and bullet fragments left in his brain from a gunshot to the face. Ola G. Furuseth plays the role of Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is stunned by the attack and struggles before finding the right response, while Jon Oigarden is cast as Geir Lippestad, the liberal lawyer Breivik requests for his defense. Seda Witt plays Lara, who arrived in Norway as a child, who is one of Viljar’s friends at the camp, who speaks for the immigrants’ view.

22 JULY hits all the right marks for this kind of true story, focusing on a society that responses to the chaos of attack with the rule of law to bring about justice and the recovery of survivors rather than glorifying the violence or the terrorist. At the same time, it is a gripping, nail-biting thriller that delivers all the drama needed to keep audiences riveted, while giving a final glimmer of hope for good to beat out evil.

22 JULY opens Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Tivoli Theater and on-demand on Netflix.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

THE WAVE Review

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If we were to take a little field trip 40 years or so back in time, we’d see a different type of blockbuster film dominating the big screen. Superheroes had not yet conquered Hollywood. Back then, Mother Nature was the big box office darling. From earthquakes and tsunamis to disastrous fires and devastating accidents, we wanted to see massive amounts of Avenger-scale destruction that only the elements could concoct.

Fast forward to present day and we now watch Thor and Hulk destroy cities in the name of the good fight. Even Godzilla has returned to the cinema to continue his rapturous reptilian rampage. Monsters and heroes are what we seek today, but what of the good ole days when Planet Earth herself was what we feared most? There have been the occasional attempts to bring back that old school tale of man versus nature. THE PERFECT STORM was a memorable outing and who can forget TWISTER?

Herein lies the dilemma. As an audience, we’ve become so desensitized to large-scale disasters on screen that they don’t feel real anymore. As we lose our taste, Hollywood feels the need to add more and more CGI and more insanely preposterous circumstances [a la THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW] in an effort to up the ante and draw us back into the mindless, adrenaline-fueled chaos. How far will our suspension of disbelief bend before breaking under the pressure of prolonged exposure to ridiculous premises?

I’ve said it once if not a hundred times. Regardless of the genre, a good film must have a decent story. I like my schlocky genre flicks as much, and likely more, that the next guy. There’s something to be said for movies so bad they’re good. On the other hand, that’s not a diet one can thrive on exclusively. So I ask, where are the fun genre films with story and character?

I would argue that THE WAVE is a prime example of a return to quality, story-driven disaster genre filmmaking. This Norwegian film (natively titled Bølgen) was directed by Roar Uthaug and combined the thrill of films like INTO THE STORM with a cautionary tale perspective more susceptible to storytelling techniques that keep the audience engaged in story and character, rather that what fantastical effects some talented nerd can conjure up in a computer suite.

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THE WAVE touts all the intensity we’ve come to expect from a natural disaster film, but backs that up with a refreshingly unexpected level of scientific authenticity that makes the film more than just a popcorn-munching thrill ride. Uthaug slowly develops suspense based on a simple question in the viewer’s mind… when will the wave hit? At no point is the audience wondering if the wave will strike. The marketing and the title of the film itself assure us of the ultimate payoff.

No, what Uthaug delivers is the promise of the money shot, but only after we sit willingly through the first hour of he film. With this committed attention Uthaug provides a slow-burn drama, focused around one man amongst a small clutch of geologists responsible for monitoring and studying the mountain standing high above the tourist town of Geiranger, Norway. THE WAVE actually relies heavily on and even features scientific details both to enhance the drama and realism, but also in turn [like it or not] even educates us somewhat. Oh, God! Not that!

Get over it. Uthaug actually does a remarkable job with taking what many of us would otherwise probably write-off as another boring PBS science special and crafts an engaging commentary and how we can get too comfortable sitting at the top of the food chain and feel a bit invincible, all the while forgetting that our one natural predator is Mother Nature herself. Uthaug tells a story that has human and family drama, but that also calls us out on our tendency to get lazy and apathetic in the face of how much we know versus how much we admit to not knowing.

Kristoffer Joner plays Kristian, a geologist on his way out of his current position as he and his family prepare to relocate. During their preparation, he finds himself drawn back into the mountains hold as he struggles to shake an uneasy feeling that something is not right. Joner is in the drive’s seat of this film, as his persistence and conviction nudge the plot along amidst countless skeptics and naysayers until the boy who called wolf turns out to have telling the truth all along.

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Ane Dahl Torp plays Idun, Kristian’s wife who works in the popular hotel on the water’s edge of the fjord that lies within the mountain’s shadow. Idun is eager for her family to move on and finds herself slightly impatient with Kristian’s reluctance to move on, but his gut tells him he’s needed in order to prevent a terrible disaster. While his efforts are valiant, once again, we know what the pay off is to be in THE WAVE, and it’s not watching it from a safe, dry distance. Seriously, I’m not spoiling anything.

While the first act of THE WAVE does take a bit of patience, it also develops some strong characters and introduces us to some basic science that is interesting, if not theoretically practical. It’s this attention to detail that adds to the film’s realism and believability. There are a few moments that scream typical genre fare, such as when they determine the large crevice in the mountain is contracting instead of expanding as they’d expected. Two of the geologists took this as an invitation to physically venture into the crevice for a closer inspection.

If this had been a horror movie, it would equate to the teenage jock responding to the blonde cheerleader hearing a strange noise by volunteering to go into the dark basement alone to check it out… and, we all know how that ends. Otherwise, the handful of other minimally questionable genre moments come during the catastrophic wave action in the final act of the film, but at this point we’ve delayed gratification so long that the payoff stands on it’s own, pleasantly underplayed CGI magnificence.

When it’s all over the the waters have cleared, THE WAVE stands tall amongst it’s predecessors, quite literally as the film’s antagonist is a massive 85-meter tall wall of rapidly-moving water propelled by the collapse of a mountainside into the fjord. If you’re a fan of the disaster genre, do yourself a solid and check out this very fluid, fresh take on a natural nightmare.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

THE WAVE opens in St. Louis on Friday, March 4th, 2016 exclusively at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre.

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HEADHUNTERS – SLIFF Review

HEADHUNTERS was originally reviewed during Fantastic Fest 2011.

In true Norwegian fashion, HEADHUNTERS is a taught thriller that pleases from the first to the last frame. Director Morten Tyldum (FALLEN ANGELS) weaves an intoxicating mystery that begins as a heist film. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a man of short stature with a large house and a towering beauty of a Swedish trophy wife named Diana (Synnove Macody Lund), as intelligent as she is stunning. What she doesn’t know is that Roger is not everything he appears to be.

Roger spends his days working as a successful corporate recruiter, a fitting cover for a man whose greatest skill is “knowing” people, but he supplements his lavish lifestyle by moonlighting as a thief, specializing in valuable works of art. Everything Roger does is to please Diana, so when the opportunity of a lifetime reveals itself, he sees the job that will end all jobs, but it begins with getting his mark a job.

Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is an ex-military special ops soldier turned CEO of a major GPS nanotechnology developer. Recently having entered early retirement, Roger meets Clas at the opening reception for Diana’s gallery. Upon hearing about a priceless work of art that Clas possesses, Roger immediately begins developing a plan to relieve Clas of the artwork and set himself and Diana up for life, which Roger sees as the only way to truly secure his most prized possession. Unfortunately, despite Roger’s very careful and competent thieving skills and his attention to detail, what lies in store for him is far beyond his expectations and risk assessment.

HEAD HUNTERS is a methodical, calculated thriller that takes great care in setting up the dominoes in just the precise manner, intricately positioned for maximum fallout. Roger leads the audience through his every step, his motives and his methodology, seamlessly allowing the viewer into his life without disturbing the all-important third wall. It’s rare that we get to empathize with a criminal, but Roger’s motives are as honorable as they are selfish.

As is often the case with Norwegian films, especially of this genre, HEADHUNTERS is beautifully shot with a cold, post-modern sensibility. Roger’s house is a rigidly designed array of juxtaposed boxes that compliments the compartmentalized life he leads. Roger is calm, cool and in control while the supporting characters around him appear very much the opposite, from a seemingly desperate Lotte (Julie R. Olgaard) with whom Roger has an affair to the wild and reckless Ove (Eivind Sander), with whom Roger works on his moonlighting venture through a strategic partnership.

What we witness in HEADHUNTERS is the transformation of Roger from a well-disguised man living in fear to a strong and determined man born of the need to fight for survival. We witness Roger transform before our eyes, pushed to the extreme before he realizes what’s truly important and how vain and superficial his life has been prior to meeting Clas Greve.

Clas is a great antagonist, emotionless and precise, like a well-oiled machine with a clear purpose, but able to conceal himself in plain sight. I couldn’t help but notice a resemblance of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to Josh Holloway from TV’s LOST, which I felt oddly added to the appeal of the character. Clearly this was unintentional, but every little bit helps. When it boils down to the essence of what makes HEADHUNTERS tick, it’s a lack of clearly defined good guys and bad guys. The story is ultimately a tale of misguided intentions and confusion in the face of well-laid plans. The tension between Roger and Clas is built upon a principle of two masters of their craft in a race to finish first, but the confusion arises from Roger reacting to misinformation and assuming a false conclusion.

HEADHUNTERS is a lot of fun, with some dark humor and brutal moments, all wrapped up into a true nail-biter. Aksel Hennie is excellent, showing an impressive range as his character is drug through the ringer on so many levels. I imagine HEADHUNTERS will surely be swallowed up by the Hollywood remake machine, if it hasn’t already, but the original is definitely worthy of your time.

Showtimes
Thu, Nov 17th at 9:30pm – Plaza Frontenac Cinema
Fri, Nov 18th at 2:15pm – Plaza Frontenac Cinema

HEADHUNTERS – Fantastic Fest Review

In true Norwegian fashion, HEADHUNTERS is a taught thriller that pleases from the first to the last frame. Director Morten Tyldum (FALLEN ANGELS) weaves an intoxicating mystery that begins as a heist film. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a man of short stature with a large house and a towering beauty of a Swedish trophy wife named Diana (Synnove Macody Lund), as intelligent as she is stunning. What she doesn’t know is that Roger is not everything he appears to be.

Roger spends his days working as a successful corporate recruiter, a fitting cover for a man whose greatest skill is “knowing” people, but he supplements his lavish lifestyle by moonlighting as a thief, specializing in valuable works of art. Everything Roger does is to please Diana, so when the opportunity of a lifetime reveals itself, he sees the job that will end all jobs, but it begins with getting his mark a job.

Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is an ex-military special ops soldier turned CEO of a major GPS nanotechnology developer. Recently having entered early retirement, Roger meets Clas at the opening reception for Diana’s gallery. Upon hearing about a priceless work of art that Clas possesses, Roger immediately begins developing a plan to relieve Clas of the artwork and set himself and Diana up for life, which Roger sees as the only way to truly secure his most prized possession. Unfortunately, despite Roger’s very careful and competent thieving skills and his attention to detail, what lies in store for him is far beyond his expectations and risk assessment.

HEAD HUNTERS is a methodical, calculated thriller that takes great care in setting up the dominoes in just the precise manner, intricately positioned for maximum fallout. Roger leads the audience through his every step, his motives and his methodology, seamlessly allowing the viewer into his life without disturbing the all-important third wall. It’s rare that we get to empathize with a criminal, but Roger’s motives are as honorable as they are selfish.

As is often the case with Norwegian films, especially of this genre, HEADHUNTERS is beautifully shot with a cold, post-modern sensibility. Roger’s house is a rigidly designed array of juxtaposed boxes that compliments the compartmentalized life he leads. Roger is calm, cool and in control while the supporting characters around him appear very much the opposite, from a seemingly desperate Lotte (Julie R. Olgaard) with whom Roger has an affair to the wild and reckless Ove (Eivind Sander), with whom Roger works on his moonlighting venture through a strategic partnership.

What we witness in HEADHUNTERS is the transformation of Roger from a well-disguised man living in fear to a strong and determined man born of the need to fight for survival. We witness Roger transform before our eyes, pushed to the extreme before he realizes what’s truly important and how vain and superficial his life has been prior to meeting Clas Greve.

Clas is a great antagonist, emotionless and precise, like a well-oiled machine with a clear purpose, but able to conceal himself in plain sight. I couldn’t help but notice a resemblance of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to Josh Holloway from TV’s LOST, which I felt oddly added to the appeal of the character. Clearly this was unintentional, but every little bit helps. When it boils down to the essence of what makes HEADHUNTERS tick, it’s a lack of clearly defined good guys and bad guys. The story is ultimately a tale of misguided intentions and confusion in the face of well-laid plans. The tension between Roger and Clas is built upon a principle of two masters of their craft in a race to finish first, but the confusion arises from Roger reacting to misinformation and assuming a false conclusion.

HEADHUNTERS is a lot of fun, with some dark humor and brutal moments, all wrapped up into a true nail-biter. Aksel Hennie is excellent, showing an impressive range as his character is drug through the ringer on so many levels. I imagine HEADHUNTERS will surely be swallowed up by the Hollywood remake machine, if it hasn’t already, but the original is definitely worthy of your time.

SLIFF 2010 Review: A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN

Stellan Skarsgård stars as Ulrik, a man who is recently released from prison after serving a 12 year (!) sentence for murder. While he seems like he just wants to live the rest of his life in peace, his past connections have abandoned him.  Ulrik’s wife has left him and his son, who is now an adult who is married, has pretty much wiped all existence because of the 12 year absense in prison.  The only person that seems to still care about him is his small-time mob boss, Rune, who is trying to give some drive to Ulrik and find the person that ratted him out to the cops which resulted in Ulrik’s imprisonment.

That first paragraph might make you think this is a action packed film, but let me assure you it is not.  It is a very quiet and subdued film that plays off as a dark comedy of a man who is trying to establish an honest, normal life.  He gets a job at a garage and gets a roof over his head, yet because of Skarsgård’s superb acting, we all know that something is bound to interrupt this plan.  The audience is treated to some hilariously uncomfortable scenes between his landlord who brings down dinner for him and continues to sit on a crickety bed and watches tv with Ulrik.

Ulrik is trying to turn over a new leaf and wants to try and rekindle a relationship with his son.  While his son doesn’t initially take an interest, it becomes to blossom in a way a dirty secret would as Ulrik’s son, Geir, doesn’t want to tell his wife about his father’s history and has previously told his wife that Ulrik was dead.  Instead of owning up to the false story, Geir tells his wife that Ulrik is his uncle.  While Ulrik is a little hurt by this, he understands why and appreciates that there is at least some attempt in trying to get to know each other.

All the performers are spot on and with some subtle yet effective direction by Hans Petter Moland (ABERDEEN from 2000), we know that no matter how funny some of the situations Ulrik is getting himself into that the final result may result in violence.  The whole film can be looked at as simply a tale or yarn, but I saw it as asking the question of if someone who spends time behind bars for over 10 years, are they really better off released into a world that has moved forward without said person?

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN is a touching look at one man who tries his hardest to return to normalcy. Yet, due to preconceived notions from his society, is pigeonholed into someone who can be used and or should be feared.  It is a must see for foreign film lovers for Skarsgård’s performance alone.

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 15th at 7:00 pm and Tuesday, November 16th at 4:15 pm at Plaza Frontenac.

DVD Review: ‘The Final Season’

The Final Season was released in theaters but ended up being kind of a sleeper. Even myself, a self-proclaimed hopelessly unwaivering baseball nut, failed to see this in the theater … and I can’t even use the excuse that it didn’t play in Saint Louis, because it did. No, it just sort of passed under the radar. The movie was directed by David M. Evans, who’s no stanger to baseball, having directed The Sandlot and its sequel.

The movie tells the true story of the high school baseball team in Norway, Iowa. The school had a tradition of baseball, lived for baseball and ultimately feared its own demise without baseball. The school had boasted 19 Iowa state championships out of the last 24, but with the next season potentially their unprecedented 20th championship year, things were looking grim. The school of fewer than 200 students in a town of fewer than 600 residents was being forcefully merged into a larger surrounding school district. This meant the Norway Tigers would be no more. After fighting fior the team’s cause, rookie coach Kent Stock (Sean Astin) takes over for one final season after the school released legendary coach Jim Van Scoyac (Powers Boothe) due to his opposition to the merger. What the school doesn’t expect is that Stock may still coach the team to their 20th championship, despite their plan to ensure the team closes its final season with a humiliating loss.

While The Final Season does feel at times like a Hallmark after-school special, it also tells a wonderfully, if not sad, story about a legendary town’s legendary baseball tradition. Powers Boothe actually delivers a classicly gruff performance as Coach Von Scoyac and the young actors playing the teammates clearly know a thing or two about baseball. I never felt like I was watching actors pretending to play, but ball players who happened to be actors as well. The film also stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Michael Angarano, Larry Miller and Tom Arnold.

[rating:3/5]

DVD Features:

  • Audio Commentary
  • The Real Season, a documentary featurette about the true story