Hawaii, Oslo

This is a remarkably well constructed movie that is fascinating to watch yet somehow manages to fall flat. The many characters race constantly around Oslo on an atypically scorching summer day (nobody seems to walk there, regardless of the heat and sweat, or to drive slowly) on their various frantic individual quests, briefly intersecting or passing each other unknown and unknowing, until they all come together magically in the end.

As others have already said, there is much in this movie that is derivative of earlier movies, but a good movie does not have to be innovative. However, it does - for me - almost always have to make me care about the characters, and that is what this one failed almost completely to do.

I cared about only one of the dozen or so main characters scurrying and caroming around the city like pinballs, and he was the least frantic, the most unassuming of them all: little Magne, the younger (and quieter) of the younger pair of brothers, played with exquisite, tender understatement by Ferdinand Falsen Hiis.

Magne was like a small but solid rock in this swirling storm of a movie, and it would have been been crushed under the weight of its own overwrought melodrama without him. To use a contrasting metaphor, he is like the gravity that keeps the universe from spinning out into nothingness.

Erik Poppe gets one star for choreographing this frenetic dance, and Ferdinand Falsen Hiis gets four stars for holding it together just by being in it. He makes it worth watching. ALL the adults are just too frenzied to either believe or care about.

This movie got rave reviews in the Norwegian press, and has also been a huge success with the audience. Initially I thought it was sympathetic, albeit very slow - with good actors and some really nice cinematography - but what was it really all about? The script clearly not very original, a cheapo take on the brilliant Altman epos "Short Cuts". OK - the director is in every right to be inspired by great art. But then I started to notice how much was pick pocketed, from the title (Paris, Texas - hello??)- the running character; and the need for a LOT of cash (Run Lola, run)- the angelic characters (Der Himmel über Berlin) - hmmm... the list just goes on and on. Zero originality here,the borderline between_inspiration_and_simple theft is stepped across too many times. On top of this, the director stresses emotions in a not very subtle fashion. I am tempted to call this genre " feelie ", as opposed to the "feel good"-genre so popular these days. Its not feel good, but darn close. The ending of this movie is almost unbelievably sentimental. No wonder people leave the theatre weeping, but this is a response heavily stressed by and wished for of the direction, something I find deeply disturbing - almost unethical!

This movie just serves to justify my life-long suspicion towards the Norwegian film industry and so-called critics alike.

This was one of the films that most people kept telling me to go and watch. I just saw it and I really must admit that i don't quite understand what all the hype is about. Reading some of the reviews of it in Misc. Norwegian newspaper one could easily be lead to believe that this was one of the best Norwegian films of all time.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good either. Sure, most of the actors did a good job and in the Norwegian film industry the script was original even though it's been done before in other countries. I feel that the pace was to slow which lead your mind to focus on other things than what was happening on screen. The soundtrack could need some improving too.

Overall I would say its a 5 on the 1 to 10 scale, OK, but not groundbreaking or the film of the century as some people have stated that it is.

I recently saw this film at a screening by the Desert Film Society in Palm Springs. I had wanted to see this at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival where it had it's international debut outside of Norway but screenings were sold out so I was eager to see this as it had good reviews by those I know who saw it. Eric Poppe makes his directorial debut in this film. He had been a cameraman so experience in filming a movie was there but how was he going to direct this story and it's actors? Well this film had a wonderful cast of actors who although they may have not been individually great actors, collectively as an ensemble cast they played their parts with an authenticity that left the viewer as seeing these as real people not just screen characters. I like characters in a film and this has plenty. The implausibility of these stories weaving together is quickly forgotten and in place of the implausible is a wonderful story that you want to climb aboard and ride to it's conclusion. Poppe uses hand held cameras through this film's shooting so effectively that you forget that this is not a huge budget film with track and crane shots but a simple presentation that when effectively done presents the film in a straightforward manor that can be just as effective. No dependency on jerky movements and fast and stylistic camera movement but instead on honest presentation transcribed to film. The sound in this film is outstanding as well. Many films demand great acting performances to carry an other wise weak script. This film had good acting performances delivered from a balanced script. This is a psychological drama and a very good film and I would rate it a 8.0 of a possible 10 and highly recommend it.

It is a hot summer day in Oslo, Norway and the lives of various people are heating up, too. A young couple has just welcomed a baby boy but, alas, he has a serious heart defect. It will cost a tremendous amount of money to send him to America for surgery. In another place, a mental patient is set to meet a long lost girlfriend. His mentor at the hospital is encouraging the meeting and looking out for his ward. Meanwhile, the mental patient's not-so-good brother is getting out of jail and hoping to meet up with his sibling, too, so they can travel to Hawaii for a new life. And, finally, two troubled young brothers have lost their father and are hiding from authorities who may have to separate them into different foster homes. But, isn't their mother still alive? Yes, but she has attempted suicide on two occasions. How will these lives intersect? This film is a nice glimpse into the universal and unique qualities of life in Norway. The large city is beset with problems, as all urban areas seemed to have, yes. However, the beautiful, older town is a pleasure to view. All of the actors are quite capable and compelling. Then, too, the use of the kaleidoscope as a scene changer is quite marvelous and lovely. And, above everything else, the story is a woven and intricate winner. All film enthusiasts who love the extraordinary will like this movie. It takes the viewer to a place and time most will never see in person, but, will consider familiar and welcome after the final reel.