Flexnez
Joined Apr 2004
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Flexnez's rating
Featuring a cast of many of the finest Norwegian entertainers of that time, Mannen som ikke kunne le (The Man who Could not Laugh) is one of the weirdest Norwegian movies ever made - it is indeed a movie you either love or hate. According to the producers of the movie, it did not have a proper script, and that is highly visible in the final product, introducing to a Norwegian audience a departure from the traditional revue humor still dominating with comedians like Leif Juster, Einar Rose and Arve Opsahl (who also has a small role in the movie).
The storyline centers around Sonell (Rolv Wesenlund), a 30-something bachelor working as a translator of comics, who, when he laughs, makes a weird sound, frightening people away. In order to deal with this he sees a psyhciatrist (Harald Heide-Steen jr.) who starts digging in his troubled childhood at a farm next to the Swedich border. He also meets his Swedish childhood girlfriend, now living in Norway, again, and starts dating her.
Although the movie pivots around this storyline, it also includes other elements, like a night club in a luggage storage compartment locker at a railway station, a camping trip with Sonell and his psychiatrist with copious amounts of alcohol, and an academic seminar on laughter and comedy. And although the movie is black and white, a 10-15 minutes long segment in colour, totally unrelated to the storyline, is also included in the middle, making mockery of national romanticist marriage traditions and ideas.
The humour is of a most absurd kind. If you are familiar with some of the other works of Wesenlund and Heise-Steen (often called Wesensteen) of that time, in particular the TV-series "Og takk for det", you will recognize the humour. But whereas the series mainly consisted of short sketches, this movie includes several sketches, often running parallel, and also a relatively emotional story about a troubled childhood. This approach also raised some criticism at the time, although they got away from it, much due to the cast and the enormous popularity of Wesenlund and Heide-Steen.
Some of the segments almost have a pythonesque feel to them, although the movie was made before the Pythons got together for their first TV-show. Examples include the laughing seminar, glimpses from Sonell's childhood and the compartment locker night club.
The reason I still choose to deduct one star, is that some segments of the movie are somewhat artificially connected to the storyline. This was probably done in order to make it eligible for government funding, which it did receive, but it nevertheless reduces the quality a bit. But that does not prevent me from laughing out loud, time and time again, when watching it.
The storyline centers around Sonell (Rolv Wesenlund), a 30-something bachelor working as a translator of comics, who, when he laughs, makes a weird sound, frightening people away. In order to deal with this he sees a psyhciatrist (Harald Heide-Steen jr.) who starts digging in his troubled childhood at a farm next to the Swedich border. He also meets his Swedish childhood girlfriend, now living in Norway, again, and starts dating her.
Although the movie pivots around this storyline, it also includes other elements, like a night club in a luggage storage compartment locker at a railway station, a camping trip with Sonell and his psychiatrist with copious amounts of alcohol, and an academic seminar on laughter and comedy. And although the movie is black and white, a 10-15 minutes long segment in colour, totally unrelated to the storyline, is also included in the middle, making mockery of national romanticist marriage traditions and ideas.
The humour is of a most absurd kind. If you are familiar with some of the other works of Wesenlund and Heise-Steen (often called Wesensteen) of that time, in particular the TV-series "Og takk for det", you will recognize the humour. But whereas the series mainly consisted of short sketches, this movie includes several sketches, often running parallel, and also a relatively emotional story about a troubled childhood. This approach also raised some criticism at the time, although they got away from it, much due to the cast and the enormous popularity of Wesenlund and Heide-Steen.
Some of the segments almost have a pythonesque feel to them, although the movie was made before the Pythons got together for their first TV-show. Examples include the laughing seminar, glimpses from Sonell's childhood and the compartment locker night club.
The reason I still choose to deduct one star, is that some segments of the movie are somewhat artificially connected to the storyline. This was probably done in order to make it eligible for government funding, which it did receive, but it nevertheless reduces the quality a bit. But that does not prevent me from laughing out loud, time and time again, when watching it.
This is the kind of movie you either love or you simply can't understand. Being from the county of Telemark myself, I belong to the first category. Otto, an urban rockabilly-punk from Oslo chooses the wrong way when traveling to Haugesund and is, suddenly, stuck in the middle of Telemark. When he needs to have his old car fixed, he meets his destiny - the am-car club in Seljord, which is one of the, if not the, largest am-car club in Norway for real, although less than 3.000 people live in Seljord. And upon seeing the engine of his car, they decide to fool him in order to get their hands on the engine.
So what is funny about the movie? There is this clip from the roundabout in the town Bø where a car drives around in it with a small wooden cottage on its trailer. Not funny, you say? Well, then you have never been to Bø. I have never seen an image describing the countryside in Telemark in a better way. Or when Otto tries to get a gig at the club Roots in Bø, and is told that they don't play that kind of music there. If you know about the culture in Bø, and particularly the strong division between the natives (about 5.300) and the students at the university college, which for some reason is located there (about 1.600), this seemingly unnoticeable comment becomes really funny.
The tag-line of the movie is "It's a hell not having a car in Telemark". And Telemark is known for its "cruisers" - people driving cars, preferably American, but also German cars, for no reason other than driving and hanging out at gas stations or parking lots. At least in the countryside, that is an important part of the culture, and it, if not practicing it, knowing about it is mainstream. An additional aspect in this respect in the movie is the character Farida Svalastog, a name which is, in itself, quite contradictory, who seems like the least likely person to be into this, but who still is.
The cultural clash is also an important aspect. Otto seems to have little respect for their culture, but he also has little knowledge - not only about cars, but when Farida tells him Haukelifjellet is closed due to snow, whereas the movie is recorded in September or so, and he believes it, he shows that he knows little of things outside of Oslo. The attitude is mutual, the locals don't seem to appreciate him either, and the plot largely circles around this clash. 'Cos in the end, even though not having a car in Telemark is hell, it can also be the other way around.
To my knowledge, the movie is not available on neither VHS nor DVD. I once recorded it from TV, and when I got a DVD-recorder, this was the first movie I copied onto DVD. And that was not a coincidence - provided that you do understand it, this movie can be seen over and over again.
So what is funny about the movie? There is this clip from the roundabout in the town Bø where a car drives around in it with a small wooden cottage on its trailer. Not funny, you say? Well, then you have never been to Bø. I have never seen an image describing the countryside in Telemark in a better way. Or when Otto tries to get a gig at the club Roots in Bø, and is told that they don't play that kind of music there. If you know about the culture in Bø, and particularly the strong division between the natives (about 5.300) and the students at the university college, which for some reason is located there (about 1.600), this seemingly unnoticeable comment becomes really funny.
The tag-line of the movie is "It's a hell not having a car in Telemark". And Telemark is known for its "cruisers" - people driving cars, preferably American, but also German cars, for no reason other than driving and hanging out at gas stations or parking lots. At least in the countryside, that is an important part of the culture, and it, if not practicing it, knowing about it is mainstream. An additional aspect in this respect in the movie is the character Farida Svalastog, a name which is, in itself, quite contradictory, who seems like the least likely person to be into this, but who still is.
The cultural clash is also an important aspect. Otto seems to have little respect for their culture, but he also has little knowledge - not only about cars, but when Farida tells him Haukelifjellet is closed due to snow, whereas the movie is recorded in September or so, and he believes it, he shows that he knows little of things outside of Oslo. The attitude is mutual, the locals don't seem to appreciate him either, and the plot largely circles around this clash. 'Cos in the end, even though not having a car in Telemark is hell, it can also be the other way around.
To my knowledge, the movie is not available on neither VHS nor DVD. I once recorded it from TV, and when I got a DVD-recorder, this was the first movie I copied onto DVD. And that was not a coincidence - provided that you do understand it, this movie can be seen over and over again.
A young couple rents a large, old flat in Copenhagen, and to afford to fix it, five other 20-somethings move in with them. The landlord, however, introduces a sixth tenant, Miriam, who is found dead the day after they have their first party in the flat, and nobody can remember a thing. This is the beginning of a mystery, including a shaman, a former polar expedition and something resembling a monster in the basement.
The series reminds me somehow of Lars von Trier's "Kingdom" series, with mostly hand-held camera, pale colours and several crossing conflicts developing throughout the series. It also resembles Nicolai Winding Refn's other works: the "Pusher"-triology, "Bleeder" and "Fear X" in that it focuses around relatively young Copenhagians whose destinies are not controlled by themselves.
The series surely has its moments, and leaves you wanting to see what happens next. As the series deals with the supernatural, there are of course plots which cannot be explained by reason alone. Still, some of the plots are too unrealistic even within the setting. Suspense is, however, a keyword. As such, I would give the series a strong 7 out of 10.
The series reminds me somehow of Lars von Trier's "Kingdom" series, with mostly hand-held camera, pale colours and several crossing conflicts developing throughout the series. It also resembles Nicolai Winding Refn's other works: the "Pusher"-triology, "Bleeder" and "Fear X" in that it focuses around relatively young Copenhagians whose destinies are not controlled by themselves.
The series surely has its moments, and leaves you wanting to see what happens next. As the series deals with the supernatural, there are of course plots which cannot be explained by reason alone. Still, some of the plots are too unrealistic even within the setting. Suspense is, however, a keyword. As such, I would give the series a strong 7 out of 10.