Junk Mail

Junk Mail is a Norweigan movie, and it is as black a comedy as I've seen. But the makers of the movie have stumbled onto a comedic truth that never fails: take an aberrant character trait, and take it to the absolute limit. The lead character is a mailman of monstrously incompetent proportions, a creepy, irredemiably snoopy individual who can't even get mugged right; he would gladly have handed over his mailbag, but he couldn't get it off his shoulder. In the process of sneaking around a deaf girl's apartment whom he fancies, he saves her life after she tries to commit suicide. For this guy, this uncharacteristically unselfish act sets off a disastrous chain of events. This weird movie will NOT work for you if you don't think it's funny. And this movie will only be funny for you to the degree that you're cynical and capricious in your affections. People of good heart, stay away.

A brilliant movie by Pal Sletaune! It's probably the "greyest" film I've ever seen. Disgusting in one way, but that only makes it greater. In my opinion the best Norwegian film ever, and it is absolutely worth watching. But like most movies, it is best in its original language, so people who doesn't speak Norwegian won't have the same experience, I guess... But it's still worth watching because of the depressing mood in it(!).

This has got to be one of the most miserable films that I have ever had the fortune to see. Although miserable, there is an abundance of humour contained within. I watched the film a couple of years back after it had been standing on my shelf for a year or so before that, it had me depressed and laughing and then depressed again throughout its hour and a half running time.

Anyone who enjoys low budget, gritty realism type films should make the effort to see this. It's about an Oslo postman who is a little bit too nosey for his own good. His prying about other people lives leads him to trouble of the kind not generally associated with the postal service. I'm not going to tell you everything about the movie because, to be honest, there isn't much to tell. Just go and see it for yourself. In the UK it is available on Tartan Video under the heading 'Junkmail'. If you are lucky enough (and patient enough to watch a Norwegian language film) then you will have stumbled upon one of the greatest dark comedies you're ever likely to see. Norway's greatest gift to an audience which is becoming more and more receptive of non-English language film.

Once we rented this movie just to see what it was about. We were fairly impressed. It focuses on Oslo mailman Roy Amundsen, who is sort of down on his luck. Then, he gets interested in a woman and starts following her around. When she leaves her key in a mailbox, he has it copied, gets locked in her apartment, and gets a little (or a lot) more than he bargained for! Some of the world's most interesting movies have come from Scandinavia (e.g., anything by Ingmar Bergman). "Budbringeren" (called "Junk Mail" in English) is no exception. This look at some of Norway's grittier aspects is truly eye-opening. Maybe it's not any kind of masterpiece, but it's still an interesting slice-of-life tale.

I was hooked when I sat down (only meaning to sit down for 5 mins), on the TV this girl lamely resorting to saying 'walking' when asked what one of her co-workers is good at. In the film, the main character, a man in his late thirties, not faring too well in life who's just waiting for something to happen, runs into the same woman several times and starts to take an interest in her. When he sees her leave a key in her mailbox while on the job he can't resist; this was the first in many instances that left me saying "what the hell is this guy doing?". Not only does he check out her apartment but he gets the key copied, and even gets trapped there on a return visit, resorting to hiding under the bed when the woman unexpectedly arrives. Like the other reviewers were saying, this film does make Oslo look a bit shabby (not that I've been there). It's is worth watching, just to see what this guy gets up to and it's a memorable viewing experience.