Norwegian

Elling

This Norwegian comedy (nominated for an Academy Award®) concerns two men being released from a state home. Until the death of his mother, Elling rarely left the apartment where they lived; Kjell has lived in institutions most of his life and is obsessed with sex, as any virgin in his 30s might be. Thanks to a new social program, the two roommates are given an apartment in Oslo--if they can manage to live independently. At first simply answering the phone or buying groceries is a struggle, but as they taste freedom, their lives become an exciting adventure. In a Hollywood movie, these two would be cute goofballs; what makes Elling so very engaging is how genuinely awkward and uncomfortable Elling and Kjell are. Their difficulties in the world are treated with respect and realism, which makes their progress bracing and their success delightful. A charming film. --Bret Fetzer

Kitchen Stories

A Swedish researcher strikes up an unlikely friendship with a cranky Norwegian farmer in this "quirky thoughtful and bittersweet" (Boxoffice) comedy that captured audiences' hearts around the world. Both "warm" (Newsday) and witty Kitchen Stories is "a deadpan thoroughly delightful comedy that cooks up tasty laughs" (New York Post)!It's thei1950s and a Swedish efficiency expert under strict orders not to interact with his subject is sent to improve a Norwegian farmer's culinary efforts. But the sly old farmer much prefers to amuse himself by impeding the timid researcher's work! Soon in the struggle between neutral observation and the need for human interaction the kitchen becomes a battleground!System Requirements: Running Time 95 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 027616919571 Manufacturer No: 1007910

Next Door

Fueled by icy sexuality and raw violence Next Door is a chilling and provocative thriller with a mind-bending twist. Newly single John befriends the two women living in the cluttered labyrinth of an apartment next door. This neighborly spirit leads to a bizarre seduction culminating with a blow to the jaw that dredges up deeply disturbing memories. Could it be the end of John s sanity or is it just what he needs to see things clearly for the first time?System Requirements:Run Time: 76 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: NR UPC: 807839002690 Manufacturer No: TLAD169

Insomnia - Criterion Collection

This 1997 film from Norway and neophyte director Erik Skjoldbjærg delivers the goods with unsettling effectiveness. It's an intense, smart, and taut thriller if only because what it eerily implies is creepier than the film's reality. Opening with a churning, chilling murder of a young woman, Insomnia invites the viewer--as well as its protagonist, celebrated Oslo homicide cop Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård)--into the mind and thoughts of a killer by making Engström fatally flawed himself. While in pursuit of the murderer, Engström makes a mistake; he accidentally shoots his partner and friend and covers up his deed in a panic. But he overlooks a minor detail: the real killer has seen him commit the crime. What ensues is a layered, complex, and unnerving descent into chaos, brought on by the inability to sleep in this land of the midnight sun. Engström suffers from insomnia, which warps his logic and resolve, and before long he's totally unraveled and unsure of his every move. But not before a twisty transference and countertransference occurs between cop and killer. The two play a game of high-stakes one-upmanship that surprises in the end. Insomnia is fresh and psychologically bent, full of Scandinavian despair and dark humor, and it boasts a film noir pulse beneath its blinding light. --Paula Nechak

Disgraced Swedish detective Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård) travels to northern Norway to solve a brutal murder in Insomnia. Unable to sleep through the night of the midnight sun, Engström quickly loses his grip on the case and his mind. Erik Skjoldbjærg's debut feature is a deft amalgam of psychological thriller, morality play, and police procedural. Criterion presents the DVD premiere of Insomnia in a new widescreen transfer.

Kristin Lavransdatter

This epic love story set in 14th-century Norway is Liv Ullmann's (Faithless) remarkable adaptation of Sigrid Undset's 1928 Nobel Prize-winning novel. Kristin Lavransdatter follows one woman's decision to break with tradition to marry the man she loves rather than the man her father has chosen for her. Torn between her longing for love and her sense of family loyalty, she ventures into a life filled with passion and pain, joy and sorrow. The star of many Ingmar Bergman films (Scenes from a Marriage, Autumn Sonata), director Ullmann collaborates here with cinematographer Sven Nykvist (Cries and Whispers) to create a film as visually entrancing as Bergman's finest. Her insightful exploration of medieval society captures the essence of life throughout the ages.

Based on a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter tells a love story set against the backdrop of 14th-century Norway. After her childhood sweetheart is killed, Kristin (Elisabeth Matheson) enters a nunnery to postpone her arranged marriage to a man she doesn't love. On a trip to town, she meets Erlend (Bjørn Skagestad), who is immediately smitten with her. Though she discovers that Erlend is in disgrace, she falls in love with him and they find themselves in carnal embrace. Against all social and religious forces, they struggle to make their love possible. Directed by Liv Ullmann (director of Private Confessions, star of Ingmar Bergman's Persona and Cries and Whispers), the movie benefits from its richly realized depiction of medieval life. Despite her limited status in this world, Kristin is no blushing maiden; when she repels an attempted rape by bashing her attacker's head with a stone, her face has the fury of a warrior queen, and her passion for Erlend is all-consuming. Kristin Lavransdatter may be too reverential toward its source material to have any consistent vigor as a film, and it's a bit of a soap opera (the religious intensity at times verges on the Gothic), but at its best it has a rawness that captures the pain and joy of life (and love) in brutal circumstances. Beautifully filmed by the great cinematographer Sven Nykvist (whose credits range from Autumn Sonata to Sleepless in Seattle). --Bret Fetzer

Hawaii, Oslo

Buddy

Buddy is the September film in The Film Movement Series. Kristoffers love life is on the rocks. But what can you expect from a guy who likes to videotape himself and his friends pulling outrageous stunts? When Kristoffers video diary winds up at a popular TV show, its not just his love life that turns upside down. A vibrant young cast explores the true meaning of friendship and love in a heart-warming story about high jinks, crazy roommates and reality television. The acclaimed Buddy won the Audience Award, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Lakki...the Boy Who Could Fly

No Description Available.
Genre: Gay & Lesbian
Rating: UN
Release Date: 21-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVD

The Inheritance

Startling in its blunt portrait of a man who fears he will lose his humanity by assuming control of a family business--and who then goes on to lose precisely that--The Inheritance won six Danish Academy Awards, including one for writer-director Per Fly. The second in an ambitious trilogy about class struggles planned by Fly, The Inheritance stars Ulrich Thomsen as Christoffer, a successful restaurateur living happily with a beautiful actress, Maria (Lisa Werlinder). Having fled responsibility for helping run his family's steel business--a miserable time for Christoffer that cost him his health and self-respect--the happy hero finds himself squeezed by his manipulative mother (Ghita Norby) into becoming CEO following his father's suicide. In short order, Christoffer finds himself doing everything he considers despicable: firing loyal employees, jockeying for greater power, forcing out other family members. Fly's somber, low-key storytelling doesn't have to drive home the slow drama of Christoffer's moral and ethical deconstruction. It's a compelling if painful thing to behold, and Thomsen's performance as a man who gets away from himself is something to see. --Tom Keogh

Monster Thursday

"Monster Thursday" is the story of Even, a young man who leads a directionless life. Tord, his best friend, is the opposite: a great surfer with a prestigious job and beautiful Karen as his bride. The last part is especially hard on Even, who is not-so-secretly in love with Karen. When Tord asks him to look after Karen while he is out of town, Even decides to clean up his act and master the waves to impress her. At first he's a prime candidate for drowning, but a local surfing legend becomes his mentor, and Even, Tord and Karen end up on a collision course with the monster wave.