Izzat

This is actually the first movie made in Norway that tells a story from the Oslo underworld. back in the 80's and 90's a new breed of criminals was on the rise in Norways capitol, Oslo. they were more violent, more international and far more dangerous than we had ever seen before. Norwegian drug lords got new competition from immigrant gangs that wanted a bigger piece of the action. and in the fighting that followed there would be spilled a lot of blood before the situation stabilized itself.

this is director Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen debut on the big screen and has formerly mostly been doing commercials and music videos. he says the inspiration for doing this film came from American gangster movies like good-fellas and the godfather and so on. but the strongest reason for why he wanted to do this film was the fact that he himself actually grew up in this environment when he was a kid, so he got first hand knowledge of these things, and a lot of the cast grew up with this as well which helps make the film more authentic.

we follow the life of three friends that grow up in the middle of all this. they are all sons of poor immigrant family's, but they feel Norwegian and expect the same respect that other Norwegians get. but with their poor background there is a long way to go if you want a nice job that pays well. so they decide to take the shortcut to status and respect through the gang East Side Crew which is led by the notorious Sadiq and his brother Khalid...

you will see nothing new in this film that hasn't already been seen before, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. in the action scenes you clearly see the director is widely inspired by john woo in how they play in slow motion and zoom inn on the bullets etc etc. this Action flick is actually quite satisfying to watch, and is well worth a look even for non Norwegians.

Norway is a country where you don't very often see good action movies because of its need in resources and the fact that our directors haven't really had the talent for it. This is definitely an exception where we get to see realistic gun fighting scenes which where shot from the older sections of Oslo city. The movie sets a new standard for Norwegian action movies

Izzat starts out in the Pakistanian gang environment in Oslo in the early 80's and gives a realistic picture on how they played out their role in organized crime. Director Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen grew up in the environment and used people he knows in his research for the film and that gives us a very realistic picture on how things where. I really enjoyed it and hope there is more to come !

After watching this movie, I just thought "what a movie!".

Well - Norwegian directors hasn't been the greatest and cleverest action-movie makers like Spielberg, Roland Emmerich and Peter Jackson. Every time a director tried, the movie failed.

But in 2005, the fresh director Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen took, with his movie, a little step for a man but a big step for Movie-Norway.

The actors (Emil Marwa, Elyas Mohammed, et cetera) performs very well in the film. Everything feel so real, so intense.

We meet three Pakistani-Norwegian boys in Oslo, 1984, named Wasim, Riaz and Munawar. Those boys gets involved with the East Side Crew gang. First, there is small jobs like thieving and things like that - after ten years, they become dangerous, hard armed and drug-dealing gangsters.

Applause to Rolfsen and his cast!

This movie has it all, a good realistic story, good directing and a very good screenplay. Unfortunately, the acting is sometimes terrible. The main character, Wasim, is not this years Oscar's favorite. A couple of the other actors is also bad. This movie would have been av "section" 8, without any doubt, if it wasn't for the bad acting. The soundtrack is also superb with bands like Kjøtt and Raga Rockers. The violence is also portrayed quite realistic and without to much blood. Honour is an important theme in the name and as the title says in norway, "Livet er en æresak" Translated, "Life is matter of honour" The movie contains several humoristic scenes which fits the film nicely. Kurt, Arendal, Norway.

The word Izzat means 'respect' in Urdu. In a way the movie was all about gaining respect in society. Unfortunately many people enter in to a one way street to get their place in society. A street where there is no turning back...ever! This movie is about 3 boys who were disappointed with poor state of their migrant Pakistani families and the fact that very few Pakistani were enjoying real respect in Norwegian society at that time. One day they come across to a drug gang run by a very ruthless Pakistani 'Sadiq'. They grow up with the gang doing small jobs for them and ultimately becoming the core members of the gang. The main character of the movie Wasim comes across many ugly situations which were all due to his involvement with the gang. That includes shooting his best childhood friend, seeing his sister being raped by his enemies and trying to pay off his younger brother gambling debt. I don't want to spoil the movie for others by telling a lot but this movie does succeeds in gripping it's viewers with it's realistic yet ugly events in underworld crimes. You will almost wish for Wasim to somehow get out of the whole thing.

I will agree with one of the reviewers that acting might have been better in the movie. The Urdu acting was not fantastic either. But the movie still managed to grip me with its strong plot and realistic events. I will certainly recommend this movie for people who like gangster type movie with underworld background.