Tusen ganger god natt

This is Norwegian director Erik Poppe's fourth feature film, and a film which many have had high expectations too. I must say this is a good film, but far from his best. I simply loved "Hawaii, Oslo" and "Troubled waters" which both was pretty much perfect film experiences. The debut film "Schpaa" was also very promising.

The script here is written by Norwegian author and screenwriter Harald Rosenløw Eeg, after a story by Erik Popp which is largely inspired by personal experiences as a war photographer.

We meet the great war photographer Rebecca (Juliette Binoche), living in Ireland, when she's home, that is. Because her relationship with her family is faltering due to her dangerous work, and many days away from home. She follows suicide bombers in Kabul, and rampage killers in Africa. Her husband is a marine biologist (Nicolai Coaster-Waldau), and he is very tired of her not being there, even when she's home. This is also affecting their two daughters.

Make no mistake. This is a good film, but I felt it lacked some tempo. The slow thinking pace may be correct to get the feeling, but the film loses momentum, and could easily be a disappointment for those expecting another Poppe masterpiece. Because this isn't. Well, it's an interesting theme, but what could have been a great drama is slipping away. It's not the actor's fault, because they are doing a great job.

The film is artistically beautiful, and the opening is really something which makes you speculate. I must admit I was a bit disappointed, since I reckon Poppe as the best Norwegian director ever. But this wasn't wholly fulfilling to me.

This won the Special Grand Prize of the jury at the 37th Montréal Film Festival 2013.

I saw this at The Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis this weekend. It's been 24+ hours since the movie ended, and it's themes are still with me. The horror of war..the difficulty balancing passion and pragmatism...what do children need from their parents... My mind changed such that the final take away is the theme of the film. Life is difficult and decisions have consequences. I want to have coffee with Rebecca and shake her. Tell her how much her children and husband need her..Tell her the sacrifice isn't worth it. Atrocities will continue. Taking pictures of suicide bombers does glamorous the cause. Taking pictures of deceased Africans doesn't bring them to life. Why are you so angry? For these reasons, I must recommend this film. It is not only well acted, but it creates and stirs up emotions, makes you think. Some time more than entertainment is demanded from a film.

Griping drama about a war photographer who is caught between choosing her family or her work. Which we learn is a lot more complicated than we initially thought. The cast did a believable portrayal of the difficulties that people encounter in life between their passion and family. What I liked especially about this film was that the lead was not portrayed as some war hero and her story was not romanticized. The story and characters all felt realistic and convincing since the characters were different shades of gray. Something that is amiss these days within film making. There is always a need to create a struggle between good and evil. Probably one of the better stories I have seen this year. Erik Poppe you did a great job with this one!

I came into the movies with an open mind, without any knowledge of either the plot, setting or premise of the movie. The opening left me mesmerized, starting off with a silent photographer documenting a ceremonial initiation of a suicide bomber, to later become hurt in the subsequent IED attack. The following complications and insight to the photographer's life really builds up a powerful and emotional drama that mostly plays out within the borders of her own home.

From the reaction of her husband to their children's acceptance of their mother's dangerous occupation, every scene feels truly genuine. In addition to being a perfectly acted and directed movie, the cinematography is, to say the least, absolutely astonishing and beautiful. From start to end, the movie feels like a beautiful painting, with no expense spared on the details.

The most refreshing feature of this particular movie is the way the story is delivered, in a non-predictable fashion freed from the basic "Hollywood-recipe". To say the least, this is by far one of the best European movie released in years, and I am yet to see a movie this original, captivating, refreshing and complex from Hollywood. 10/10 stars, absolutely a must-see for all movie enthusiasts that appreciate something else than recycled, brain-dead black and white portraits of reality that Hollywood keeps producing.

In a warm sunny day in Montreal I went to watch the very new arrival film "A Thousand Times Good Night". I had no idea how it would be impressive because I could not find much information through the web.

All the people may encounter a paradoxical situation between their family and their job. This fact is more realizable when you are a war photographer. The first scenes of A Thousand Times Good Night are too devastating. You can feel the horror, anger, and self-sacrifice behavior in those Afghan extremists. It seems that the suicide bomber just jumped to her destiny as she had been told to do and in parallel she was scared to death. These paradoxical situations just began from the very first scene and moves through the film. The photographer, Rebecca, had her own dilemmas between her enthusiast and her family life. I think the symbolic scene which shows Rebecca plunging in reverse was frequently displayed to show how it would be difficult to decide in dilemmas. You may watch it or refuse to watch it but it worth to watch because this is life as it is!