08/07/2005

The first film from Norwegian Sara Johnsen is among the competitors at the Brussels European Film Festival with a heavy Scandinavian presence. The first scenes with long elliptical narratives, recounts the brutal loss of the young daughter of a woman doctor. Victoria exiles herself in a little village covered in snow, the funeral shroud for this story of double grieving. It is another death, the discovery of the body of a young man in the snowdrifts that makes Victoria face up to her grief. Little by little, linking the inquiry into this death to Victoria's own tragedy, the two stories merge to resolve finally in alternate montages.

The young Norwegian star Kristoffer Joner, revealed to Europe at the Shootings star 2003 in Berlin, has found, with the character of Kai, the unconditional lover of Victoria, a strong masculine role. As for the part of Victoria, Annika Hallin, already noticed in Witch In Our Family (En Häxa i familjen) in 2000, gives her a strong presence, with a hard face photographed by Odd Reinhardt Nicolaisen, luminous and raw, scrutinising her glacial sadness.

Produced by Friland AS and sold internationally by NonStop Sales AB, Vinertkyss was released last February in Norway with great success, bringing two nominations (best screenplay and best actress) at Amanda 2005 for which the prize-giving ceremony will take place on the 26th of August. After selections at various festivals, it was also well-received by Variety, as it screens too at the Karlovy Vary Festival. A promising career that for a film that slaloms between raw drama and detective thriller.

(Translated from French)