Nord

Movies like this are about the journey itself, and not the destination, so I am fine with the plot itself. A man travels and meets people on his way. The meetings in this movie are all quite neat. The main character meets some people that all challenge the isolation he has been living in, and it seems like those he meet influence him as much as he influences them. It's about all the problems we have, big and small.

But there's too little of this. This is not a long movie (less than 90 minutes), but it still felt long due to gaps in the narrative where not much happens. There would have been room for plenty more good moments in this movie, and you feel robbed once it over because they never came, and the great moments that's there just aren't enough.

I saw this last month at the 2010 Palm Springs International film Festival. This is a quirky dark comedy written for the screen by Erlend Loe who also wrote a book that another great quirky Norwegian film was adapted from recently called in it's English title Gone with the Woman. Nord reminded me an an abstract sense of the film Little Big Man where the lead character goes through a journey meeting a wide variety of people along the way in wonderful small on screen roles with even an old wise and worldly Saami fisherman waiting to die instead of an old wise and worldly native American waiting to die. Jomar (Anders Bassmo Christiansen) is a former skier who works at a ski hill and has battled alcoholism and has been hospitalized with psychiatric problems since he lost his girlfriend five years earlier. After a fight with his former best friend Lasse (Kyree Hellum) he learns his former girlfriend had a son by him so he sets out on a snowmobile for an improbably long journey of a few hundred miles to northern Norway near the arctic circle. He meets along the way some very isolated people in Lotte (Marte Aumemo) and her grandmother, Ulrik (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen), and Ailo and his granddaughter. (Lars Olsen). Excellent winter scape cinematography by Phillip Øgaard and smartly directed by Rune Denstad Langlo this is not a long film and it's definitely worth a look. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10 and recommend it.

Unassuming little movie about a sad man who has trouble fitting in, no matter where he goes. Leaving a trail of smoking shacks and burning barns, Jomar is headed north on his snow mobile to seek out his son. He doesn't always travel in a straight line, but who said you have to? On the way, he meets his share of strangers, some of them friendly, others not so friendly. But then, Jomar isn't the most easy-going of visitors himself. You might say he is on an educational journey, but the lessons aren't all that clear. Among other things, he finds out about a unique way to get drunk that involves a razor, a patch of sandpaper, and a tampon. He also learns about the ancient art of springtime suicide as practiced by the tribal elders of Troms County. Cheating death more than once in the unforgiving wilderness of Northern Norway, he is finally given back to life. - Nice, eclectic soundtrack with some rare roots tracks.

I felt that this film had a problem with the lack of story.

Somehow the film starts brilliantly and there is a brilliant scene with a teenager boy who has, at the least to say, a lot of problems.

Those were the brilliant parts of the film. I thought after the first 15 minutes, that this is going to be a masterpiece, but then it just dies. The plot vanishes and somehow the ending doesn't give enough to justify the lack of the plot.

The main actor does a fantastic job and there is a lot of good in the cinematography, although I sometimes felt that this was an advertisement of Norway. There were so many landscape shots that you could easily get bored with them.

The music choice was also a little bit odd. It sounded like a country-tune coming straight from Texas. Do people like country music in Norway? Even with it's problems, it is a nice film to watch as an voice from Norway.

North is the story of a 30 year old man that says enough is enough. Suffering from anxiety, he's a visibly distraught fellow; appearing lethargic and care-free. After hearing unwanted news from his doctor, a heated discussion with a past friend, and an entirely preventable fire that most likely ruins his livelihood…he takes matters into his own hands, and takes off, heading North to where his hope waits.

The theme here isn't hidden, it's smack right in your face. When you feel like life is giving you a difficult time, and that you're the only one going through such misfortunes, you're not. There are people out there who have it difficult as well, but they continue, even with their unwavering conditions, to persevere and go on. Noticing and appreciating life, and accepting what life gives you, and everything that it has to offer is what North is all about.

At it's exterior, beautiful Norwegian arctic conditions play the backdrop here, which are blanketed by a folk-travel inspired soundtrack that gives you warmth as you watch our lead trek through the cold. And when including the feeling of isolation that comes with the amazing landscape, you're given even more satisfaction than just what the story itself has to offer. Our leading actor, a heavy built and emotional lumberjack of a man, leads and shares the film with a few side-characters, and all deliver their performances as well as you'd hope. Some making you question their behavior, and some where you almost immediately come to sympathize for.

To me, as I mentioned above, Nord was about appreciating life. And with that said, I'm not entirely sure if this movie is for everyone, as some people may just not relate to the deeper aspects here. Some people also just aren't empathetic cinematically, especially with such simple approaches. But if you do appreciate a simple story that mixes charm, beauty and many chances to ponder, you should come out of the film as happy as I did.