Narrator: "But though you take every precaution, protection is never complete. Something will inevitably penetrate even the most advanced defenses."By Dag Johan Haugerud
With Laila Goody, Ragnhild Hilt and Henriette Steenstrup
This rather unknown Norwegian film came to my attention in a list of recently released movies. I felt neutral about it, but the question asked on the IMDb was a great premise. "What happens to us when people stop acting like they're supposed to?" I think this is what really made me want to see it, that and maybe a desire to see more foreign movies.
I Belong is made up of three seemingly unrelated stories. They are, however, narrated by the author of the book which contains all three stories. As she reads her novel out loud for an audio book, we see the stories develop in flesh, featuring her neighbors. A common theme throughout all the stories could be described as the consequences of decisions we reluctantly take.
The first story is the story of Lise Gundersen, a nurse who is assigned to supervise an intern. She is quite nervous about it, but when the time comes it seems to go fairly well until the intern makes mistakes and Lise has to warn her. There, she becomes uneasy and when she is nervous, she slips into speaking English, which the intern will use against her.
The second story is the story of Grete Maigret, a German to Norwegian translator of novels who has to deal with a new editor after the death of her previous one. She finds herself in a position where she has to translate novels that she feels are "trash" and thereafter, deal with the consequences of translating such novels.
The third and last story is of Ann-Kristin, who is picking up her mother who just had an hip replacement operation and they both go to visit her cousin and her mother. On the way, the discussion revolves around money as the mother, Inger, seems to need some but can't make it on her pension and Ann-Kristin is always the one helping out financially. However, when they arrive, the relatives who seem really well off and have just inherited more money, bluntly offer 1 million kroner to Inger.
The movie works really well overall. I felt the third segment was not up to par with the previous two. The acting feels genuine and it is easy to empathize with the characters during their emotional struggles and dilemmas. I found the link between all the stories to be tenuous, but it was more of a metaphorical, and symbolic link of content rather than shared characters or intertwined stories.
In the end, this might even be a better way off. I did wonder if we'd learn more about the narrator- the book author; whether she was involved in it, whether her characters were inspired by real people or whether they were simply displayed in such a way that it was all made up in her mind. I guess this process was left to the viewer's discretion. The film is neither a comedy nor a drama, but a mix of the two. Maybe it could be seen as a satire. Somehow, the movie was centered on women and their interactions were almost exclusively with women.
I liked: Natural emotions. Dilemmas. Good dialogues.
I disliked: The transitions between stories weren't smooth. Weakest story at the end.
72/100
Interesting little film about human relationships and the cycles that we randomly go through. Not flawless, but enjoyable.
No comments:
Post a Comment