Norwegian Dream
Leiv Igor Devold's hugely appealing romantic drama tackles homophobia at a fish factory in Norway.
The Polish director Leiv Igor Devold, whose first feature this is, must be delighted that Norwegian Dream has carried off two awards at festivals, one being for best photography (Patryk Kin) and the other for best actor (Hubert Milkowski). That seems fair enough even if it might have been even more appropriate had Milkowski’s co-star, Karl Bekele Steinland, shared the acting award with him. Their fine performances are the stand-out element in this film: they play lovers in this gay drama which at its close is stated to be "Dedicated to those who fight for the right to love”.
Norwegian Dream is undoubtedly a film aimed first and foremost at a gay audience and, while it tells a familiar enough story of two young men hemmed in by a homophobic society, they will be well pleased by it. Milkowski, who comes from Poland, plays Robert who is first seen en route from that country as he approaches Norway ready to take up work in a fish processing factory which lucratively employs many Polish workers. Steinland, a black actor who was born in Oslo, has the role of Ivar who also works in the factory but has the advantage of being the adopted son of its owner (Øyvind Brandtzæg). Not only are Milkowski and Steinland well matched in acting ability but they also share great chemistry and, since Norwegian Dream is a love story, this means that in that key department the film very much gets things right. Furthermore, the early scenes in the film establish the setting and the characters so well that one immediately identifies Devold as a director of talent who is aided here by the work of the film’s three editors.
For many viewers these successful aspects will carry the day, but the film is let down by a screenplay which often feels underwritten despite the fact that it touches on social issues over and above homophobia. The latter is illustrated by the fact that Ivar, who likes to dance and embraces drag, is viewed with hostility by the likes of Marek (Jakub Sierenberg), another Pole and one who is sharing a room with Robert. That such attitudes can readily occur in Poland too becomes clear when we eventually learn that Robert had been a witness to gay bashing back in his own country. But the film’s critical stance also extends to the way in which the factory is exploiting its workers and shows how Ivar is drawn into a union that is calling for strike action. That Robert, secretive about his sexuality and having good reasons not to risk his job by supporting the strike, takes a different view of things will understandably threaten his budding relationship with Ivar.
It is the failure to back all this up with sufficient persuasive detail that weakens the film. For example, there is no real attempt to explain why the ruthless factory boss would ever choose to adopt a child who is black. More importantly still, the arrival halfway through of Robert’s widowed mother (Edyta Torhan) introduces an irresponsible figure who is making her financial problems even worse by travelling to Norway. Robert seeks to be supportive but the writing fails to round out this character in a manner that would render her pitiable as well as irritating. It is largely to help her that Robert succumbs to pressure from his boss to stay in work but again these scenes call for more detail to be fully convincing. Other subsidiary characters appear but make less impression than they might have done just as Ivar’s interest in being a drag performer is hardly filled out. Come the closing scene and one is also aware that the film is rather too keen to play with the audience’s emotions. But, if all these things go some way to take the edge off Norwegian Dream, what really counts is that its two leading players deliver so effectively while in addition the skill of much of the filmmaking reveals Leiv Igor Devold to be a talent to watch.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Hubert Milkowski, Karl Bekele Steinland, Edyta Torhan, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Jakub Sierenberg, Izabella Dudziak, Simonas Dovidauskas, Jakub Nosiadek, Piotr Czarniecki, Hanna Klepacka.
Dir Leiv Igor Devold, Pro Håvard Wettland Gossé, Screenplay Justyna Bilik, Gjermund Gisvold and Radoslaw Paczocha, Ph Patryk Kin, Pro Des Jørgen Sellevold, Ed Øyvinn Haugrud Kastnes, Ida Kolstø and Tomasz Maczka, Music Florian Tersjoff, Costumes Maren Esdar.
Spættt Film/Solo Film/Riva Film/ActivEast/Match&Spark-Peccadillo Pictures.
97 mins. Norway/Poland/Germany. 2023. UK Rel: 29 April 2024. Available on VOD streaming. Cert. 15.
