Tuesday, May 24, 2011
IGNOBEL CAUSES
Today's film was the Norwegian
an epic account of the Norwegian Literature Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun who became a mouthpiece for the National Socialist takeover of Norway in WWII. A puppet government run by a cruel Nazi puppet master. It avoided literal invasion but was occupied nonetheless.
Hansum was sort of duped but this intense character study by Max Von Sydow gives background and depth to the question of how such a thing could happen. Naivete does not explain.
The film explores the relationship between Hamsun and his wife which is part of the picture and also shows the reality of Norway's occupation.
The War ends and Hamsun and his more active sympathizer wife are taken into custody as war criminals.
We are made to think through the nature of their crimes and to see how others responded. Disgrace takes many forms. Protected from the realities of the Nazi's deeds, the same isolation helps Hamsun withstand the disgrace and the venom of other Norwegians who stayed loyal to their country.
Von Sydow is an actor of monumental talent. And he is matched tooth and nail with Ghita Norby as his wife. She is up to the job. Together they carry us through the pre-War, the War and into its aftermath.
I sat glued.
I would not mind seeing it again. That makes it a 4 out of Neetflix5.
Labels: films
