Bloody Angels

A Norwegian mystery thriller that tries hard, very hard, to be clever. Nicholas Ramm (Reidar Sorensen) is a cynical city cop dispatched to an end-of-the-world province to solve a double murder. He is confronted with the Nordic version of omerta and must learn that the whole hicktown has conspired against him. Though on the outset, it seems like it has many ingredients going for it, 1732 Hotten was recklessly turned into a grade-A stinker by a bunch of taut overachievers. For one, everyone in the film, right down to the faintest supporting act, is a confirmed and heavily overdrawn nutcase, which despite the partly good acting becomes unbearable after just ten seconds. The music score, a poor man's Tom Waits (is that a pleonasm?) imitation, is the most annoying single piece of dreck ever to come out of a synthesizer; worse, it mostly kicks in for no reason other than making you beg your ears fell off. The same goes for the camera work, which is hardly ever purpose-driven and instead veers off into some of the most complacent film academy mannerisms to-date. The transitions, takes, and cuts are so deliberately arty that it hurts a blind man's eye, while the few physical action scenes look downright ridiculous. The fundamental problem with this film is that there's too much of everything: too much madness, too much bigotry, too much mystery, too much cynicism... And just when you think you're finally over it, this silly little cockroach of a film turns into a hideous monster, topping all the incoherences it's been churning out by staging one of cinema's most infuriatingly deceptive ends. I do sympathize with the Norwegian fraction that has expressed its anger on this site. Not that you'd necessarily expect a naturalist depiction of rural Norway – but even if your option is atmosphere, there has got to be some credibility. Excentricity has to be authentic, too. Director Karin Julsrud should burn all her Lynch and Coen tapes and go fishing.

I watched this very powerful Norwegian thriller on Encore's Mystery channel last night. I'd never heard of this before, but looking it up on the IMDB, I see it was made in 1998.

It follows the story of a police investigator who comes from Oslo to a small town in the Norwegian countryside to investigate a pair of related murders: a young girl with Down's syndrome and one of a pair of local men believed to have been involved in raping and murdering her. Wherever the poor detective goes, he meets with angry, sullen, and secretive townspeople--in fact, a bartender suggests that maybe the whole town was in on the murder and what will the investigator do if he discovers this is the truth?

During the course of investigating, the policeman befriends the young brother of the murdered man and tries to keep him from being abused by the locals, who kidnap and mutilate his father in a gruesome way, and who are on the lookout for another brother, believed to be the second perpetrator in the rape/murder. At one point, the policeman gets beaten up by a group of locals, including one man he recognizes, who tells him, "I was never here, and I've got at least 20 witnesses who will testify to that fact." It all moves to a rather startling conclusion, as we find out who the killers really were and the third brother finally stands up to his bulliers.

This was a very dark and disturbing and well-made film. If you're in the right mood and don't mind subtitles, you might like it. But it isn't all gloom and doom: a comic highlight: the visiting detective asks one of the glum-faced local police, a woman, if she ever smiles.

She says, "When something's funny."

"What's funny?" he asks.

"Cosby," she answers, and gives him this little half-smile/grimace, which, in the scheme of things, is laugh-out-loud funny.

Is it the harsh, wintry climate that makes Norwegian small town people as callous as this film wants us to believe they are? I was wondering this at the beginning of Karin Julsrud's debut when we get to know the carefree and violent attitude of some of the younger citizens of the town. This is more and more obvious as the story unfolds: a detective from Oslo, sent in to help solve two connected murders, is first humiliated, then beaten without anyone lifting a finger to stop it. What bothered me was the pointlessness of it all. If one man can't defy a whole town, send in the troops, all right? But this film isn't about logic. The central theme is that of the young boy who is repeatedly being victimized. His continually changing relationship with the stranger -from curiously friendly to defiant and uncaring- is the main strength of the story. Unfortunately, it can not save the rambling nature of the script. It never seems to go anywhere and leaves one wondering what the film is actually supposed to be about. One mustn't be too severe, though. Many scenes are very powerful and I liked the moments of wry humor intermingled in the drama. What we have here, then, is a compelling but not entirely satisfying psychological thriller and another director to look out for.

Not much I can say. I agree that this is probably not exactly realistic especially it being taken place in a small town in a peaceful country like Norway. However, we all should know, its ONLY A MOVIE. It has a tragic and sad story to it, and not only that, some disturbing scenes. However, overall, this is still a great thriller that is worth a watch! It was put together quite well. I'm quite shocked after watching the film, yet also impressed.

9/10

Clearly the Norwegian jury doesn't agree (read the other comments) but I think this Scandinavian take on David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS (hey, that's what they're marketing it as, so call me lazy, see if I care !) is one of the more startling cinematic experiences to come along in many a year. First time director Karin Julsrud didn't intend her fable of how violence can only breed more of the same to be taken as a documentary but as the idiosyncratic mix of drama, comedy and horror which led publicists to make the comparison in the first place. Unlike Lynch however, Julsrud doesn't let the viewers off the hook at film's end with a far-fetched supernatural conclusion but forces them to confront their own dark side by making some of the violent outbursts her film suggests (but rarely shows) seem 'righteous' at first, though that doesn't stop them from poisoning the close-knit society they sprang from. Opening with an atonal rendition of 'When the Saints Come Marching In', this spellbinding thriller charts the investigation led by big city cop Nicholas Ramm into the small town murders of a mentally retarded girl and one of the alleged perpetrators of that crime. To reveal more would take away much of the film's pleasures as well as shocks. Progressing thoughtfully, Julsrud has enlivened her narrative with such a wealth of telling details that you may need to see this one more than once. I for one welcome that prospect.