Jonny Vang (2003)

Director:

Jens Lien

Writer:

Ståle Stein Berg (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 2003 (Norway)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Three friends since childhood are trying to work out their complicated relationships. Jonny tries to be best friends with Magnus, Magnus tries to be married to Tuva, and Tuva tries to have sex with Jonny. |

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Rifle | Worms | Business Idea | Friendship Between Men

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Aksel Hennie	...	Jonny Vang
Laila Goody	...	Tuva
Fridtjov Såheim	...	Magnus
Marit Andreassen	...	Brita (as Marit Adeleide Andreassen)
Bjørn Sundquist	...	Odvar
Nils Vogt	...	Police Officer
Anders Ødegård	...	Gunnar
Silje Salomonsen	...	Helene
Trond Brænne	...	Bank director
Mads Jørgensen	...	Frode (as Mads H. Jørgensen)
Eivind Sander	...	Paul
Jan Hårstad	...	Amundsen (bank chairman)
Nikis Theophilakis	...	Doctor
Adessa M. Franco	...	Engelen (bartender)
Kari Borg	...	Agnes

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Norway:11 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Fåvang, Norway

Company:

Maipo Film- og TV Produksjon

Trivia:

To get American band Calexico's permission to use their music in the movie, director Jens Lien went to the US with an unfinished version of the movie on VHS to show the band. The only place with a VCR and TV capable of playing PAL tapes was a nearby video rental store. Soon Calexico and some 30 customers in the store were watching as the director translated the Norwegian dialogue as the movie played.

Movie Connections:

References Balto (1995)

At least it's not pretentious

This is a little bit of a mess but above average for norwegian standards. One celebrates the film's lack of pretence and its energy and pace.

It's all about an enterprising farmer lad and his attempts and failures in the dullest of worlds.

The movie does its best to make us embrace Jonny, but he's not as sympathetic to the audience as the filmmakers supposed. To start with he cheats his best friend by sleeping with his wife. Further stuff happens in a rather little and uneventful plot, the more they deal with "important issues of life", the more it fails due to questionable moral standpoints.

Slowly by slowly, we're all eventually backing Jonny and his misfortunes, that could had lead to a pandemonium in the `After Hours' fashion but stays somewhere in between the fiords of dulland. The script struggles to introduce `freaky' elements and to portrait an abundance of local color just for the sake of being different, the most disturbing being the perpetual mariachi score that somehow doesn't fit too good in the universe displayed on screen.

The direction is inexistent. Not a trace of dramatic use of camera and way too many misleading scenes. In addition, some angles and editing are in the realms of bad gusto.

As every norwegian film there's a necessity of showing the landscape but here is not too fastidious and in a way works into the narrative. The acting is generally theatrical, being Laila Goody's performance the best of the cast.

The director wants us to think that Jonny is too special in relation to such an environment, but when he has the opportunity to leave and make big time he turns back and stays. I would say that applies to the movie too.

Anyways, it's a noble effort to universalize (americanize?) the repetitive norwegian film industry and that's pretty good news.