Døren som ikke smakk (2000)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jens Lien

Writer:

Per Schreiner (written by)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

A young man lives in a flat with his mother. One day she falls ill suddenly only to pass away the following day...

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Henrik Høie

...

Ole

Also Known As:

Shut the Door (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:10 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

Norway

Company:

Kaliber Filmproduksjon

All very deep and meaningful but a little help would have been nice

A young man lives in a flat with his mother. One day she falls ill suddenly only to pass away the following day. The young man is left alone in the flat. However a door that can't be shut properly means he must cope with unwanted intrusions.

I caught this film by complete accident on TV last night. It was subbed in for a cancelled film at the last minute and I gave it a go. At first it started interestingly enough but after a while it just kept repeating the same idea for several minutes without anything extra happening. In the final scene something is added that sheds a lot of light on proceedings but you need to work to get it.

The message of the film seems to be about dealing with loss by moving on and not staying in regret. The main character is stuck in a flat, unable to shut the door on what has happened to his mother. He cannot get past it and is bothered by interruptions from people coming through the door. I took these to represent him being bothered by the loss of his mother rather than real people, eventually he is forced to move on and take up a new life. However these are only my guesses and I don't know if they're totally right, because the film doesn't help you much by explaining anything.

I enjoyed the short for the reason that it made me think to work out what it say trying to say. The direction is a bit cold and distant but I suspect that is the point. It does manage to drag a little (even a less than 10 minutes) because it repeats itself for several minutes with no additions. However overall it makes it's point in an inventive and clever way even if it would have been better with a little bit more guidance for those of us not into artsy shorts that expect the audience to `get it' with little or no help.