The Bothersome Man

2006 Director Jens Lien

This film is an intriguing and bone-dry Norwegian black comedy that marks the intersection between David Lynch, Samuel Beckett  and Jacques Tati.

A man steps off a bus into a strange city with no memory of how he got there. It all seems familiar: people are polite, go to work, have dinner parties, go out and have sex, but no one seems to connect or even enjoy themselves. It isn't long before the new arrival gradually begins to question his environment and plan an escape. The ubiquitous "Caretakers" of the city take note that he doesn't fit in and set out to rectify the situation.

Driven by a fantastic performance by Trond Fausa Aurvag, whose deadpan comic performance lends the surrealism some "fish out of water" slapstick. There are many shades of "The Trial" as well as "The Prisoner" here. This is about as dark and worrying as a film can get and one that will remain in the recess of your mind for a considerable length of time.

Kitchen Stories

2003 Director Bent Hamer

This is Bent Hamer's comedy drama" Salmer Fra Kjøkkenet" and is based on the real-life social experiments conducted in Sweden during the 1950s.

In the years following WWII, a research institute sets out to modernize the home kitchen by observing a handful of rural Norwegian bachelors. In the small town of Landstad, middle-aged Isak is one such research subject who regrets ever agreeing to participate in the study. Nevertheless, he is observed by Folke and the two develop a strange friendship until the observer becomes sick. This causes a problem with Folke's boss and Isak's friend Grant.

This is a wonderful little jewel of observational comedy, big brother without the cameras. It is also a touching tale of lonely people. For those who speak Norwegian and understand Swedish there are many language gags that are not translatable and so the subtitle reader is deprived of many of the subtleties of this film. Something of a unique film.

O'Horten

2007 Director Bent Hamer

This is a melancholic journey into a life that has been stripped of its meaning.

After 40 years of loyal service as a train driver, Odd Horton, retires and  realizes the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. He empathises with his aged mother and her unrealised dreams of becoming a ski jumper in the times when women were not permitted to enter that sport. He ambles aimlessly through a series of mishaps until he decides to take control once more.

Beautifully shot against a Norwegian winter Bent Hamer captures much that is uniquely Norwegian, notably the incessant Bergen rain. This film is a wonderfully skewed view of the human condition, and gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal appeal.