Helle Nächte

The relationships between fathers and sons are not shallow or trivial when they have been broken by separation during important years in the psychosocial integration of the boy. According to the idea that a common viewer has of "action", it seems that nothing happens in «Bright Nights». However, there is intense dramatic action, according to the Aristotelian definition of action, determined by a conflict: a movement from point A to B, in which the protagonists change, even if it the change is minimal: at the end of the film, there is a glimpse of understanding between Michael, the father (Georg Friedrich), and his son Luis (Tristan Göbel).

The death of Michael's father is the trigger for his reunion with his son Luis, whom he has not seen for many years: he lives in Berlin, his son in the countryside and his father lived in Norway, so Michael did not see him again after he emigrated. By losing his father, Michael unconsciously realizes that he is duplicating his father-son relationship in the one he has with Luis, so he asks the 14-year-old boy to accompany him to the funeral of his grandfather. Only the two of them, a woman priest and an official, attend the funeral. Unbeknownst to Luis, Michael has planned to spend a few summer days together, when the days are long and there is still sunlight at midnight. The process is not easy, the stay is tense, friction is frequent, and confrontation soon occurs.

Director Thomas Arslan's method is observational, he does not judge or take sides with anyone. Perhaps music at some moments appears as an unnecessary resource, when the emotion is obvious, and foremost because Arslan's visual strategy evokes the Scandinavian lyrical realism, which came to film through adaptations of novels by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (first woman writer to win the Nobel Prize), such as Victor Sjöström's «The Phantom Chariot» (1921) and Mauritz Stiller's «Gosta Berling's Saga» (1924).

Lyrical realism had a marked influence of Romanticism, evident in the treatment of landscapes, turning nature into a mental projection of the characters. Open, vast, and luminous panoramas predominate in the entire film, such as the attitude of Michael and Luis towards the adventure on which they embark in northern Norway. And it becomes evident, when just before the most dramatic confrontation, father and son travel through gray and foggy roads, contrasted with the green spaces that they cross after the climax.

An admirable and well-made film, with magnificent performances by Georg Friedrich as Michael (winner of the Best Actor award at the Berlin film festival) and by Tristan Göbel as Luis. «Bright Nights» runs only 86 minutes in good tempo, but it is not a happy film nor does it seek a happy ending. It may not be fully appreciated by those who have never been close to this type of father-son conflict... or who deny having experienced it.

This is not for people who need a certain amount of action because there is none. The film is at times painfully slow with many long scenes which enhances the awkward feeling between this father and son.

They had not seen each other for many years because Michael, the father, left Luis' mother and did not try to have an ongoing contact with his son. Now that Michael's father has died in Norway, he tries to persuade his son to come to the funeral, obviously with the plan in his mind to rescue their relationship. We soon get the picture that Michael's relationship to his father resembles the one he has with his son.

The 14-year-old Luis reluctantly agrees to the idea to spend some more days in Norway by just cruising through the countryside of northern Norway. Luis is very hostile and hardly talks which is a challenge for Michael who tries to get closer to him. Whenever he seems to make progress he looses out soon again and the abyss between them appears deeper and wider than before. During this long silent periods we watch the beautiful landscape passing by which creates a kind of trace. They constantly clash, although it becomes clear that Luis, while complaining about almost every suggestion made by Michael, never asks to return home. He feels pestered and interrogated by his suddenly caring father. He let him try and try again without giving a hint that things could become better. But the longer they get into lonesome territory the quarrel more desperately…

If this sounds depressing to you I assure it is not. The film gives you plenty of time to think you own thoughts about them and the music with these extremely hypnotic sounds draws you into the story and makes you feel like you sit in this car yourself. Throughout the trip there is always something like a glimmer of hope that once the wall between them could be wrecked…

It is basically a two-person movie and both actors are great. The don't show much emotion at first sight, but you get to watch them closely and suddenly you begin to see subtle movements and changes. Great film! The music plays an important part, I cannot image the film without it.

Seen at the Berlinale 2017, where it was part of the official Competition for the Golden Bear. Not a spoiler, as no secret anymore: The father role, played by Georg Friedrich, won the Silver Bear for Best Actor awarded by the Berlinale 2017 International Jury. I myself and several others were surprised about this prize, so I would like to hear the motivation of the jury, none of which was revealed at the Award Ceremony, so I wonder.

As an amateur film viewer, my conclusion is different. Even worse, I see no reason for any prize whatsoever. This movie simply had too little content overall. The plot and setting were nice, so the landscapes and the environment worked as icing on the cake. However, it did not rescue the movie as a whole. I'm not sure even, whether father and son really bonded together eventually. Maybe only some groundwork has been prepared for smoother future contacts.

The road movie through forests and hills, a few lakes, and more forests and hills, does on itself not offer ample landscape material to make it worthwhile as a sightseeing tour. The people we encountered were not really introduced and thus not really part of the road movie, just tapestry and probably added to un-shallow the story, or merely to fill the nearly one and a half hour running time.

Illustrative for the core story is how father and son start on the wrong foot. Father mentions that he had no car for three years, not needing one in Berlin where he lives. The son finds it boring, saying that as soon he comes to some money he will buy something cool like a BMW or a Mercedes. Apparently, they speak on different wavelengths and come from different worlds, not surprising given their age difference, the many years they did not see each other, and being unaware of each other's circumstances.

One can construe this talk about cars to be a cliché, but it paints a picture that will remain effective during the rest of the running time. I saw more such clichés along the story, like the talk about The Lord Of The Rings, as the father has read the book (boring!) and the son saw the movie (I'm not sure the saw the complete trilogy). The latter example came forth from a side remark triggered by the landscape around them, but disappeared from the dialogue due to some new wavelength difference between the two.

In the opening scene we see that the current partner of the father got a job offer in Washington for a year, and she has already decided in her heart to accept the job. Nowhere further in the story is this item returning, so was this just another way to extend the running time?? Or a way to let us get acquainted with one of the main protagonists, so part of the initial exposition of characters?? This breakfast table topic in an early scene is nowhere re-appearing in the story, so WTF??

All in all, as said before, not a prize worthy movie for a lot of reasons. No substantial story, a lot of clichés about father/son differences in age and topics of interest, and more such mildly interesting things that are no guarantee for keeping you awake.