Mannen fra Snåsa

If this film hadn't been made my Margreth Olin, I never would have gone to see it. Her last film "Nowhere home" ("De andre") made me speechless after viewing. A film about under age youth refugees with no home country being thrown across borders. It was great, as most of her films have been.

Well, I went to see this new film, quite biased, since I really doesn't believe in healers like the one depicted, the quite famous Joralv Gjerstad. Now an old man, but he has been a healer all his life, and most profoundly: He never took money for his services. The film has got additional publicity just before, since a part of the film also includes her taking contact with Gjerstad after her live in boyfriend got a severe stroke whilst this film was in post production.

The cinema was surprisingly full, and later I got to know that this film had a record audience for a documentary in Norway over the premiere weekend. And what a roller-coaster of emotions we are put through. Olin has made a documentary that make you feel awe, joy and in the next moment makes the tears burst. The film is an emotional roller-coaster, and even if you doubt the "gift" of healing, the meeting with all the troubled people seeking him out, will most surely affect you.

Norwegian filmmaker Margreth Olin has without doubt become Norways best film documentary maker. Once again she has made an interesting, and above all, moving film. What's more interesting is that for every film she makes, she manages to make the next even better. I will definitely say that this is her bets film to date. So even if you're not able to grasp the idea and truth about healing - I'm for sure not at all convinced in even it being a possibility - the force of believing is immense. Well worth a watch!

I think I don't believe in this kind of healing, or not really (I was raised with a lot of psuedo healers, which doesn't help), though I like to keep a somewhat open mind. I do strongly believe in the power of placebo though. But you know, whether or not things were really happening (which didn't even seem to be the primary focus), I thought this was a beautiful documentary, done honestly and with integrity. The people with their sufferings touched me, and Joralf really won my heart, such a pure soul.