It seems I have a penchant for Norwegian movies. Given I'm a talker myself, and love nothing more than superfluous but extremely witty dialogue in movies, this is an unexpected development.
Because Norwegian movies are skimpy on dialogue. I'm not sure what there is actually amounts to dialogue.
O'Horten is playing right now, and it is a fairytale come true, especially if you like trains, pipe smokers, snow, icy roads, fortuitous missed connections, love between two seventy year olds, a dog named Molly, and monosyllabic conversation.
It is one of those quietly gorgeous films in which the improbable happens over and over, in silent certainty. I don't think bombastic amazement is a Norwegian thing.
As O Horten, a bachelor railroad engineer comes to grips with his honorable retirement, he smokes his pipe, covers the parakeet before leaving his apartment, and meets strangers with whom he is unexpectedly finding himself interacting. He tries to sell his boat, he saves a dog, and rides with a man who claims to be able to drive blindfolded. And he finally acknowledges where his heart truly must be, after a trip down a long ski jump.
See what I mean? Magic!
I loved "O Horten" so much because I was prepared by having seen two other Norwegian movies-- "'Kitchen Stories" and "Elling". Charmers, both.
But so, I then ran to Netflix, tapped in Norwegian and--
"The Other Side of Sunday" is on the way.
I'm on to something, and it feels like Christmas.
