A Somewhat Gentle Man

“Rolf, hug.”

 

Following his release from prison, Ulrik is trying to pick up the pieces of his life but is being held back by the people from his crime-ridden past.  In this excellent Norwegian black-comedy he tries to come to terms with who he is now and, more importantly, how he connects with those around him.

 

Hans Petter Moland has created a brilliant, laugh-out-loud comedy which plays a lot with what people don’t say and the silences that no-one wants to fill.  Populated with characters he describes as “really stupid people”, Moland has done wonders with Kim Fupz Aakeson’s fairly minimal script, dragging down the tempo of the actors to play up the awkwardness of the situations and the fact that people don’t seem to be conversing, just talking at one another.

There are so many excellent elements in this film, from the bleak location (it was shot one mile either side of the motorway in a run-down area of Oslo) to the awkward situation comedy that is rife throughout the picture.  Even the costuming is faultless, Moland describing it as people who have become stuck in the period when they thought they were at their best.  Clearly the 80s was a wonderful time for Jensen, the gang leader from Ulrik’s past.

The appearance of the local landscape appears to have rubbed off on the characters and everything and everyone looks more than a little shabby.  Even Jensen’s precious car isn’t quite what it used to be.  The grim surroundings only add to the humour – Ulrik’s first room outside Prison is as close to a cell as you could possibly want to imagine.  Ulrik’s new world is populated with places he can’t smoke and women he can’t avoid and it all seems suitably tired and drab.

The film is beautifully directed to emphasise the oddness of this world to Ulrik and Stellan Skarsgard plays him with quiet bemusement and the odd moment of gruffness.  He often appears to be an observer of this new life rather than a participant which makes the moments when he truly engages quietly moving.  The supporting characters are all brilliantly realised, especially Jorunn Kjellsby’s standoffish landlady, his new employer, Sven (Bjorn Sundquist) and the gang’s new boy, Rolf (Gard B. Eidsvold).

A Somewhat Gentle Man was, quite simply, the best film I saw at the LFF.

 

Down-to-earth and hilarious, I could watch it again right now – 9/10