Hamer returns Home for Christmas
by Annika Pham
After having won the Best Screenplay at San Sebastian and conquered festival audiences in Toronto, London, Lübeck and Bergen, the latest film by one of Norway’s best-known filmmakers, Home For Christmas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bent Hamer
film profile], is being released today by Sandrew Metronome on 40 screens, carried by rave reviews in local newspapers.
Unlike with most of his previous work based on original scripts, director Bent Hamer has dipped into Norwegian author Levi Henriksen’s collection of short stories Only Soft Presents Under the Tree, to weave together interconnected slices of lives from the snowy fictitious Norwegian town of Skogli. Tales of hope, love, bitterness, sorrow and happiness make up this ensemble piece marked by Hamer’s usual deadpan humor, but with a stronger than usual emotional chord emphasized by the holidays. But Christmas and its significance wasn’t the director’s focal point: “The stories happen to take place around Christmas, but they are all strong on their own,” he says. For Hamer, Christmas is more linked to memories of childhood, feelings and atmosphere than a religious celebration.
The snowy and rich color scheme in the film is captured by the established Norwegian cinematographer John Christian Rosenlund who previously collaborated with Hamer on Factotum [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and O'Horten [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The film was produced by Hamer’s company BulBul Films with his usual German co-production partner Pandora Filmproduktion. The Match Factory handles sales.
Another ambitious Scandinavian film is opening today: Cornelis, a biopic of Sweden’s beloved poet and songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk, played on screen by charismatic Norwegian singer Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby, alias Hank von Helvete. The film by Amir Chamdin is launched on 70 Norwegian screens by Svensk Filmindustri. French film Mammuth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustave Kervern, Benoî…
film profile], starring Gérard Depardieu, is being released by Fidalgo.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
