Turn me on!

I recently saw this at the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is a low budget, quirky, coming-of-age Norwegian comedy from a writer/director (Jannicke Systad Jabobsen), known for making shorts and documentaries, who is making her feature film debut using mostly untrained actors and the results are hilarious and charming. Alma (Helen Bergsholm) is a 15 year old living in a small rural Norwegian town called "Skaddeheimen" who has discovered self-gratification and phone sex. She, like her friends, long to leave the town they live in and go to a big city like Oslo as one of her friends older sister Maria (Julia Bach-Wiig) has. Alma has a crush on Artur (Matais Myren) but when he makes an offensive move toward her outdoors at a community dance, she flees inside to describe it to her best friends Saralou (Malin Bjørhoude) and Ingrid (Beate Støfring). They don't believe her story, and Artur of course denies it, so she becomes ostracized by the whole school and loses all her friends. Her mother (Henriette Steenstrup) is beside herself with Alma's fascination with sex but devises ways to put up with it. Director Jacobsen co-wrote the very funny script along with Olaug Nilssen adapted from Nilssen's novel. Excellent soundtrack music from Ginge Anvk, nicely edited by Zaklina Stojcevska with beautiful cinematography from Marianne Bakke this film comes together and delivers a smart and witty comedy. The casting is perfect and Bergsholm, who was 17 when this was filmed, playing the 15 year old lead is outstanding in her debut acting performance. She is both poised and comedic and pulls off her role with genuine charm and skill. I'll look for a future for her and for director Jacobsen. I would highly recommend this film and give it my highest rating of 10 out of 10.

Like any other Indie Teen Movie about Sex,"Turn Me On Dammit!" is a movie about a fifteen year old girl named Alma who's hormones are out of control and desperately wants to experience sex for the first time.

Living in a very dull small Norwegian town, Alma can only daydream about Arthur (The guy at her school she crushes on) and make calls to phone sex lines just so she can pleasure herself. Basically, her life is very mono-sexual. At a party one night, Alma finds herself suddenly alone with Arthur, who out of nowhere ends up exposing himself to her and pokes her on her thigh with it. As she under reacts in her own way though still freaked out about it, Alma makes the mistake to run off and tell her "friend" who also secretly crushes on Arthur and out of jealousy ends up telling the entire school for her own benefit. As a result Alma becomes an outcast at school and no one would talk to her. To make matters worse her mother finds out about her phone sex calls and becomes aware of Alma's sexual frustration that is out of control. As Alma does her best to live life as best as she can life closes in on her as she struggles to deal with her new found solitude.

This is a very funny and cool movie that I truly enjoyed watching. It has a great young cast, along with a very honest storyline. The cinematography is simple. The color palette on this film is superb which nicely paints a picture. Filled with an awesome score of eclectic acoustic tunes, this is truly a nice simple movie to chill out to. I personally wished it been a little longer but still works out for what it is.

Overall, don't just watch this movie expecting just to see teen sex. You'll probably be somewhat disappointed if you do. This is a movie about a teenager coping with her sexual frustration at home and finding a way to deal with her public humiliation at the same time. Give it a chance, you might just enjoy yourself. 7 out of 10

The concept of the adolescent sex comedy is not something movie goers haven't seen before, but the Norwegian film Turn Me On, Dammit! does offer a new perspective on a popular, yet critically maligned sub-genre. The film features everything one might expect from a sex comedy. Awkward moments, a few shocks, and several scenes of tenderness, however the thing that sets this film apart from the American Pies, is that the horny teenager in this film is a female.

The film focuses on Alma, a 15-year-old girl who lives in the small town of Skoddeheimen, and is in a constant state of fantasy, daydreaming about sleeping with nearly every man she lays eyes on. To suppress her urges, she becomes slightly addicted to calling phone sex lines, although she realizes they are a poor substitute for real human affection. She lives with her mother, who doesn't exactly know how to cope with her daughter's budding sexuality, and has difficulty approaching the subject. Alma is also in love with her neighbor Arthur, but after an incident at a party involving him, she misses her shot and becomes the school's pariah.

Adapted from a novel by Olaug Nilssen, and written and directed by Jannicke Systad, the most interesting part of Turn Me On, Dammit! is the simple fact that there's a female lead. Too often in American cinema we only see boys as dorky, sex-obsessed virgins. In our sexually repressed society, it's easy to forget that girls get horny too, and that's exactly what this film explores.

While there were certainly some embarrassing and uncomfortable moments in the film, it would be unfair to compare it to the sex comedies of America, because rather than focusing on the outlandish, this film takes a much more grounded approach. The comedy is less gross-out sight gags, and more dialogue-driven and situational.

The bleak backdrop of the one-horse town the characters live in is just enough to give the film that Euro-indie feel that we are all becoming accustomed to. Those viewers that grew up in small towns will also appreciate the stagnant feeling the characters all seem to share regarding the town.

While the majority of the film was charming, there weren't too many laugh out loud moments. Although some of the jokes may have been lost in translation, overall it was not a very funny movie. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining, just don't expect a laugh riot.

The film's climax also left something to be desired. The majority of the film moved at a relatively slow pace, then when Alma hit her lowest point, she inexplicably does a 180 and everything is sunshine and rainbows once again. One could argue this sentiment, but I would have liked to have seen a stronger resolution between Alma and her mother, and be given more inner dialogue from her explaining why she was feeling better about life.

Although Norway seems to be cranking out high quality movies left and right these days, most of them are gritty crime stories, so it's refreshing to see a more light-hearted film come our way. Turn Me On, Dammit! is a charming, yet slightly flawed coming of age story that will entertain some, and outrage others (Republicans, I'm looking at you.) Adam FilmPulse.net

i saw this movie in nyc for the film festival. this is one beautiful movie. i wish i could describe the beautiful, daring way the filmmakers captured the story and the scenery. it is very hard to watch movies that have good acting but this film certainly does. i couldn't believe it when the director said these actors had never done this before. i was completely surprised. funny that she also said the leading girl had not told her parents yet! very good thing it was such a wonderful job of acting or she might have been busted.

i also loved the humor, especially from the mother. I thought it was great how the sisters and friends are so ridiculous and yet sad and delightful. great job very good! thank you for being a voice that has some unique style!i hope the film will be able to play in America? are there plans for that? anymore film festivals? i also hope there is a way that i can purchase this film.

I don't know what to say about Minnie Long's comment that Helene Bergsholm hadn't told her parents about the scenes she plays in this film. She obviously thinks she heard it.

As the US publicist, let me tell you what happened in fact: when Helene was offered the role of Alma, director Jannicke Systad Jacobsen met with her and her parents in a hotel to have them read over the entire script, and, as Bergsholm was underage at the time, to give their consent. As anybody who has worked on a film knows, the film could never have been released without a signed document from the parents. It is very serious business what you depict sexually with minors on screen. And in particular, somebody like Helene, who is not a professional actor.