The Bothersome Man (2006)

In a strange city where every person seems content beyond reason a new man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by asking too many questions.

Director:

Jens Lien

Writer:

Per Schreiner

Stars:

Trond Fausa, Petronella Barker, Per Schaanning

26 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Trond Fausa	...	Andreas (as Trond Fausa Aurvåg)
Petronella Barker	...	Anne-Britt
Per Schaanning	...	Hugo
Birgitte Larsen	...	Ingeborg
Johannes Joner	...	Håvard
Ellen Horn	...	Trulsen
Anders T. Andersen	...	Harald
Sigve Bøe	...	Liten mann
Hanne Lindbæk	...	Vigdis
Ivar Lykke	...	Kollega 1
Aldun G. Magnaes	...	Gutt som kliner (as Audun G. Magnæs)
Mette K. Haugen	...	Jente som kliner (as Mette Karin Haugen)
Hanne Dieserud	...	Azur-kvinnen
Gard Petersen	...	Forvalter 1 (as Gard Pedersen)
Benny Glaerum	...	Forvalter 2 (as Benny Glærum)

Storyline

Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out. Andreas meets Hugo, who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack. Maybe it leads to "the other side"? A new plan for escape is hatched.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide attempt | dystopia | suicide | escape | cellar | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

2-1-0 Films [Greece] Official site

Country:

Norway Iceland

Language:

Norwegian

Release Date:

24 August 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bothersome Man

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Box Office

Budget:

NOK 14,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sandrew Metronome Norge, The Icelandic Filmcompany, Tordenfilm AS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The car used to pick up Andreas at the gas station is a Panhard 24, a French car not made since 1968.

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Connections

References Paris, Texas (1984)

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Soundtracks

Te Quiero Dijiste
Written by Pasquale
Performed by Trio Los Panchos (lead vocals by Raúl Shaw Moreno)
Lyrics by Maria Grever
Courtesy of Bluemoon Records

User Reviews

welcome to Oslo, Norway

First of all, forget all the Christian stuff (heaven, hell, purgatory). You are in Norway.

The director intended well to show it is shot in Oslo, it is easy to recognize the places. It is a sharp look at the values that rules the country and at the lack of sentiments and feeling of the Norwegian society.

Note that Andreas - does he arrive to Oslo by his own will - does not really has a job, but a place in the society that give him access to "happyness": - an apartment - a convertible - friends from the work place - a girl, who has only interest for kitchens - another girl who cannot say I want but only I may The girls are cruelly described, but again the 1st one is the typical Norwegian "witch" (sorry to use this word, I translate literally from Norwegian) and the second the everyone's girl friend; both are typical characters of the Norwegian society.

Andreas has other values, is sensitive and want to make choices: warm chocolate and children.

It is deep buried in the cellars of the old buildings of Oslo housing old people; the room at the end of the tunnel is a typical grandma Norwegian kitchen.

The soundtrack is Peer Gynt, almost the Norwegian national anthem, adding again to that lost paradise's nostalgia.

The final scene is shot at the house of common of Oslo and the people coming out of the building are meant to be the deputies or minister of the country and they tell Andreas that they did everything to make him happy, if I remember correctly, just before expelling him.

Although Andreas injures himself to show his feelings,the gore scenes may seem strange here but maybe the director use it to mock the conformity of the Norwegian cinema, as it has been mandatory for the last decade to show very violent scenes in almost every movie.

Is the bus also a typical character of the Norwegian society? I wonder because for celebrating the end of the studies , the Norwegian students have "party buses" this ritual marks the entering into the adult life, and Andreas coming from nowhere in a bus to this town. what do you think?