Izzat

This movie has it all, a good realistic story, good directing and a very good screenplay. Unfortunately, the acting is sometimes terrible. The main character, Wasim, is not this years Oscar's favorite. A couple of the other actors is also bad. This movie would have been av "section" 8, without any doubt, if it wasn't for the bad acting. The soundtrack is also superb with bands like Kjøtt and Raga Rockers. The violence is also portrayed quite realistic and without to much blood. Honour is an important theme in the name and as the title says in norway, "Livet er en æresak" Translated, "Life is matter of honour" The movie contains several humoristic scenes which fits the film nicely. Kurt, Arendal, Norway.

The fact that people have not learned that they can not see a Norwegian movie with high expectations is incredible. If you come expecting something good, or great, you should go for a different movie. That said.

As for the acting; there was little to no passion shown by the actors. This however portrays well the environment the "gangsters" come from as well as pre-dating the show from todays date. Poor acting, but it worked in a very weird way.

The retro view on things was quite nice and it really made the experience of the movie into something that I enjoyed.

The story is simple. Gangster, drugs and killing. During most of the film I was having flashbacks from "Menace II Society".

All in all, it felt like reproduction of most gangster movies, put into a new cultural setting and downsizing the actors and cinematography. Decent movie, not great, but over my expectations.

Izzat may be the very first movie from Norway which can be classified as a good movie, not just a "good-to-be-Norwegians"-movie.

Izzat paints an image of Oslo, Norways capital, and its crime-environment in the mid-90's. We follow Wasim and his involvement in Westside Crew, the Pakistanian crime-gang.

What makes this movie extra special, is the realness of it all. Several Pakistanis which are familiar with the crime and the gangs in Oslo, say that the movie is extremely real, with the exception of a few details.

Unfortunately, Izzat has got a few problems with the acting. Both of Wasims friends, and his sister, suffers from bad acting.

The soundtrack however, is outstanding. Typical rock music from the mid-90's, and even better, several Norwegian bands! All in all, if you speak Norwegians, or if this movie is dubbed into English sometime, absolutely one of THE films this year.

Norway is a country where you don't very often see good action movies because of its need in resources and the fact that our directors haven't really had the talent for it. This is definitely an exception where we get to see realistic gun fighting scenes which where shot from the older sections of Oslo city. The movie sets a new standard for Norwegian action movies

Izzat starts out in the Pakistanian gang environment in Oslo in the early 80's and gives a realistic picture on how they played out their role in organized crime. Director Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen grew up in the environment and used people he knows in his research for the film and that gives us a very realistic picture on how things where. I really enjoyed it and hope there is more to come !

Izzat is a realistic portrait of the gang culture among immigrant children in Oslo in the 80-90's. The movie portraits the destiny of Wasim, Riaz and Munawar, three young boys growing up in Oslo's east side at the time. They find school hopeless and boring when they get drawn to the environment in East Side Crew -a gang ruled by the hardboiled brothers Sadiq and Khalid. It starts with petty theft, but soon develop into drug dealing, abuse and murder. The scriptwriters, both immigrants, grew up in Oslo east and observed the environment at close range and the director capture the story in an raw way. The movie also explains the big gap between cultures and why the gang environment could flourish the way it did. Izzat became a big hit in the movies and have been praised among the audience and critics.