I saw this at the 2011 Palm springs International Film Festival. this is only the sixth feature film from writer/director Bent Hamer as a director but I am becoming a big fan of his. His only other film I saw was O'Horten which I really liked so I made it a point to see this one. Set in northern Norway at Christmastime, Jordon (Reidar Sorensen) is a former soccer star from a village up north who is going home for Christmas. Drugs, despair and alcoholism have taken a heavy toll on his once promising life and he's trying to get back to his parents house. On the way Johanne (Ingunn Beate Oyen) who runs a Christmas tree lot takes pity on him and offers him some food and shelter and discovers that he was once her friend many years ago. This is just one of the eight stories about the Christmas time of year in this film that are smartly woven together to form a seemingly singular story. It begins in the war-torn Balkans with a young boy named Goran (Arianit Berisha) hauling home a Christmas tree across an urban landscape and in the cross-hairs of a sniper. We also meet Dr. Knut (Fridtjou Saheim) who is working on Christmas Eve and tending to a friend of his Paul (Trond Fausa Aurvag) who is dependent on medication for his depression. Paul wants to go home for Christmas to see his kids but he's recently divorced and his wife Tone (Kristine Rue Slettebakkken) has taken up with another man Hroar (Kyrre Haugen Sydness). On his way home for Christmas after work, Dr. Knut is kidnapped by a desperate Serbian immigrant (Igor Necemer) who needs the doctor to deliver his Albanian wife's (Nina Zanjani) baby in their hideout in a remote cabin. We also meet Karin (Nina Anresen) who is having an affair with Kristen (Thomas Nordstorm) and discovers that he won't leave his wife Elsie (cecile Mosli) as he's been promising to do. Then there is Simon (Joachim Calmeyer) who has just found himself to be a widower. We also have schoolboy Thomas (Morten Ilseng Risnes) who has a crush on his neighbor and Muslim schoolmate Bintu (Sarah Bintu Sakor). Beautifully photographed by cinematographer John Christian Rosenlund and wonderful art direction and production design from Tim Pannen and Eva Noren this is a rich-looking film. Adapted for the screen by Hammer and Levi Henriksen from Henriksen's collection of short stories "Only Soft Presents Under the Tree" I would give this a 9.0 out of 10 and recommend it and will look forward to more Hamer films and hopefully catch up on his ones that I have missed including the much acclaimed "Kitchen Stories."
Review of Home for Christmas
