Schpaaa

Erik Poppe's Oslo is a multi-racial, graffiti-covered anywhere-city like Manchester or Berlin or Paris. As a portrait of wasted youth, Schpaaa is a better film than its Anglo-French equivalents, La Haine and Human Traffic. It's an angry film full of love for a group of people without love. A lean film telling a human tale with a perfectly apt cinematic style: snapshots of scenes in the last weeks of two young teenagers before their aimless anti-social behaviour catches up on them. It's a film of wonderfully human moments, such as the grins on the boys' faces when Jonas returns from an unexpected ride in a car from which he was stealing; the resignation on a young boy's face when he approaches the door of his dysfunctional home. The highlight is a beautifully acted scene when Jonas, having been kept behind by the supply teacher for falling asleep in class, pretends to be his own best friend, and naughtily tries to get the 'too careful' teacher to touch a hollow on his head.

Having first seen the film ages ago in 1999, I was quite impressed. I wanted to find a review of it but I couldn't (Its not called Schpaaa here), when I eventually found this site, I was quite dissapointed to see that there was a 5.7/10 rating. I thought, well you know, mabe it wasnt that great. But then I saw it again last night on SBS, and I was still impressed by it.

I think why this is rated so lowly is that the plot is highly unbelievable, Im no expert on Norway, but i'm sure Oslo does not have street kids that are involved with the Yugoslavian Mafia and deliver drugs and beat men up. But if it isn't real, the director has as sure as hell made it look real. He films the graffitied, dark forbidding parts of Oslo making the place seem bleak and inhabitable. The whole landscape is that of grey cement and heav y urbanization, it is certainly the dark side to the otherwise beautiful Norwegian city. The lives of these kids (the youngest being 11) are harsh and damaged, they commit crimes by the dozen are are rebels from mainstream Norwegian society. I think if this had been set in New York or London, it would be alot more believable than in Oslo.

What keeps this film going is the unlikely friendship forged between Jonas and Emir. Emir is the strongest of the "Bunch of Five" but he is constantly bullied by all the others except Jonas, who tries to prevent the ridicule. Emir -who has brain damage from a beating his father administered to him when he was young- frequently attacks Jonas with a knife or by strangling him, but yet the two remarkably still stay friends. Emir is stupid, but we see him constantly wishing for a better life which he knows he will never obtain. The last excruciating scenes are very violent, Emir is betrayed by the other boys and is beaten to a pulp (literally) but their friendship prevails and Jonas comes to his rescue.

I think my view of Schpaaa might be a little bias, considering I was these kids age only 4 years ago, so I can relate to them much better than any adult can.

If you like Ken Loach films or liked Bully or Kids, id reccomend this film to you.

Im giving this 7.5/10, but ill vote a 10 for it to bring its undeservedly low average up. A fine film, though if you ask me again about it when i am a 30 year old man in a boring job, I will probably say its crap. I would have lost the ability to enjoy this controversial teenage Norwegian hit by that time.

Schpaaa I researched this movie when I heard that Lene Marlin's Unforgivable Sinner had been used on the soundtrack. After a little difficulty I was able to get hold of the DVD from a website in the US. Having done so I was very glad I did and this will be a film that I will remember for a long time. Erik Poppe brings an amazing, mind blowing movie, the stunning cinematography, tight, fast editing and superb soundtrack kept me mesmerised from beginning to end. Schpaaa is probably one of the best films I have seen in a long time.

As a filmmaker myself I don't normally like to comment on the 'plot' or 'storyline' in movies but Schpaaa's was an eye opening insight into underworlds and organised crime that is present all over the world. Schpaaa to me had a particularly dark, yet not over dramatised feel to it.

Erik Poppe is a credit to the Norwegian film industry and I hope that he has more projects to come, I recommend to anyone who loves quality cinema to see Schpaaa, its amazing.

I saw Schpaaa at a Norwegian cinema where the home crowd greeted it with great enthusiasm, and with good reason too! The film, seemingly shot on low budget rests not on the trickery of the camera, but on the quality of the script. The film brings home the issue of the decay that is present on the streets of our cities today and uses the gritty realism of the lives of Oslo's less fortunate to the screen. The film shares similar traits with the 'Kids', has a similar subject matter and the filmic style can be seen as being closely related aswell. Surley this film would have been commended by Mr Bazin if he were alive today. If you have the opportunity, regardless of language barriers, see this film.

For those of you who doesn't know, schpaa is norwegian slang and means cool or great. The movie "Schpaaa" is about five boys between the age 12-16, who lives in Oslo East. Drugs, skipping school, beating up people, robbing shops and stealing is a part of their everyday life. I think the movie is really great and very realistic.