Elskling

If this is what getting angry means in Norway they must be the calmest people on earth. This would count as a friendly argument where I'm from.

Not what I expected and not what the synopsis tells you.

It's about this woman's journey towards herself and her self-realization about the patterns she keeps repeating to sabotage herself.

But I don't think it translated that well, also the subtitles were bad.

Maybe it was too subtle for me, although I did get the gist. I also suspect the cultural differences played a part. Or something like that. It just didn't hit me as much as I expected it to or as much as I had hoped.

What a truly magnificent film! Fantastically written story and cinematography that drags you through an emotional rollercoaster, going left and right. Director Lilja has created a masterpiece with this. I'm so glad this film got to see the light of day. Perhaps the struggle of getting it made and realized is some of the frustration and intensity we can absorb through the film.

The acting from Helga is nothing but pristine! Never seen such a great performance from any Norwegian actor or perhaps even others. The film has scenes that will keep you pulling your hair, not sure who's side you're on, keeping you on the edge of your seats. While at the same time it WILL make you cry when you finally get there. Is the mirror scene perhaps one of the best shots and scenes in Nordic cinematography history? See it and judge for your self!

Norwegian cinema is less known in the world than the ones coming from other Scandinavian countries, but lately it has offered some interesting productions, especially films about ordinary people and their relationships. 'Elskling', the 2024 debut film by director Lilja Ingolfsdottir, also falls into this category. If the translation app doesn't fool me, the title is equivalent to 'Darling', but the producers decided to release it on the English-language market with the title 'Loveable', a slightly explicit title in my opinion where more ambiguity would have been more appropriate. It's a film about a marriage in crisis, one of those situations that many of us have gone through or known in our lives. The characters are so natural and the situations are believable, which is a good starting point.

Maria was diverced with two small children when she saw Sigmund at a party and fell in love with him. She searches for him for several months and, when she finds him, she initiates a relationship that seems to turn into a second-chance love story. They get married, two more children are born, seven years pass. The flame seems to be about to die out, especially on Sigmund's side. He is busy with his professional life and claims to need 'space'. Maria, meanwhile, is overwhelmed by raising her four children and frustrated by the fact that she is unable to achieve her own professional fulfillment. Maybe she also needs her 'space'? Maybe, if the relationship is no longer working, that it would be better to divorce? The word 'divorce' is pronounced late and with difficulty. For Maria, trying to be independent, separated from Sigmund and the children, is risky.

I have a problem with films with excessive verbosity, and 'Elskling' is one of them. It is true that part of the film is spent in sessions at the psychologist where Maria and Sigmund arrive together, but Sigmund quickly gets bored and abandons after the first two sessions, leaving Maria as his only patient. It is a good pretext, but not enough, and in a few scenes (especially one of the many scenes with mirrors) the emotions are stifled in words. Too bad, because at other times we are dealing with a sensitive and empathetic sketch of the life of a couple in need of help. Helga Guren is an excellent actress and her Maria joins a gallery of numerous female characters in Scandinavian cinema that are filled with restrained emotion. Oddgeir Thune, the performer of the role of Sigmund, has all the physical qualities necessary for the role plus acting talent. The story and the acting performances will divide audiences in their appreciation of the degree of responsibility of the two heroes in the crisis of their marriage. I was intrigued by one aspect, however, and I don't know if this observation is not related to cultural differences. Here is a film about the breakup of a relationship between two mature people who raise four children together (two born in their marriage, two from the heroine's previous marriage). The two talk a lot on to the other, in the presence or absence of the psychologist. How is it possible that the interests and well-being of the children are never a subject of discussion or an argument for how the relationship will evolve? With these small observations, I think 'Elskling' is an interesting film, coming from an unexpected direction, by a filmmaker who promises to make many other, good films in the future.

As a Norwegian, I felt like praising this film. I think it is appropriate, Norwegian film was both ridiculed and often poorly reviewed when I was growing up. There have been some exceptions over the years, but this one puts Norwegian film on the map!

In professional reviews of this film, it was written that all couples should see this film. I would add that it is for absolutely everyone, single or in a relationship.

The film is a close and intimate insight into a relationship that is slowly but surely unraveling. I think many people can identify with the conflicts we witness. This is about blaming other loved ones and blaming them for something that we should perhaps point the finger at ourselves. So the starting point for the film is a fairly young couple, who are struggling terribly. Then the film's main character is revealed and confronted with a different reality than the one she has been hiding behind herself. This phase of the film is incredibly strong and credible. I don't think I've ever seen any actors manage to convey such vulnerability on film before. That this film wasn't Norway's Oscar hope last year is a big mystery to me. But then it has certainly picked up many other film awards. So deserved.

A warm recommendation.

A passionate relationship leads to marriage and children, and seven years later they find themselves stuck in what might just be an all-too recognisable urban family hell in the post-women's lib era, in which none of the members of the household feel they get the time, space, attention, and love they deserve and need. None more so than wife and mother of four, Maria (Helga Guren), who detests her husband's every hint of happiness and achievement in light of her own lack of such. When she lashes out at him one final time, his patience and tolerance are pushed to the brink, and he becomes cold and disinterested. First-time director Lilja Ingolfsdottir creates interpersonal drama with a depth and magnitude that even Ingmar Bergmann would be proud of. Elskling scrutinises its characters and relationships relentlessly, never allowing them (or us) the slightest respite from their own shortcomings or self-pity. There is an optimism in Ingolfsdottir's work, but it is well-hidden under the characters' defiance, insecurities, and rationalisations, and once we finally get to the much-awaited catharsis, it's not a typical movie catharsis of our protagonist changing her ways, but of her having slowly realised and come to terms with some of the mechanisms behind her problems. Elskling is a powerful, demanding and sometimes funny drama that isn't designed to make you happy, except perhaps about your own life as the credits start rolling. There are strong, stripped-down performances by the two lead actors, especially Guren.