Thale (2012)

Estranged friends Leo (a crime-scene cleaner) and hired-hand Elvis are cleaning up a particularly messy casualty deep in the Norwegian woods. When Elvis accidentally finds a secret passage ... See full summary »

Director:

Aleksander Nordaas

Writer:

Aleksander Nordaas

Stars:

Silje Reinåmo, Erlend Nervold, Jon Sigve Skard

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Silje Reinåmo	...	Thale
Erlend Nervold	...	Elvis
Jon Sigve Skard	...	Leo
Morten Andresen	...	Hvittkledd
Roland Astrand	...	Voice (voice) (as Roland Åstrand)
Sunniva Lien	...	Thale, ung

Storyline

Estranged friends Leo (a crime-scene cleaner) and hired-hand Elvis are cleaning up a particularly messy casualty deep in the Norwegian woods. When Elvis accidentally finds a secret passage that leads to a subterranean living space, he also encounters Thale, a beautiful young woman who sings, but does not speak. Though they are intrigued and concerned for her, they are ill-prepared when others, tracking Thale, finally catch up to her.

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Plot Keywords:

folklore | m 16 | horseshoe | old friends reunited | tail | 

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Taglines:

In a cellar, dark and deep, I lay my dearest down to sleep; A secret they would like to keep.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian Swedish

Release Date:

17 February 2012 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Thale - Ein dunkles Geheimnis

Filming Locations:

Mosjøen, Nordland, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$296,500

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Fund FUZZ, Yesbox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The entire set of the interiors were shot in Alexsander's parents basement in Mosjøen, Norway. A Thale or Thallen is a Scandinavian folkloric creature which possesses magical powers to induce empathy in humans if caught out of the forest, where they dwell. In the English-speaking world it would likely be classified as "faery folk".

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Goofs

Near the start of the film, we see the creature Thale suddenly emerge from a bathtub full of liquid. Yet her hair is barely even wet.

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Quotes

Elvis: [Speaking to Leo, English subtitle] How long did they give you?

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Connections

Followed by Thale 2

User Reviews

Very talented young filmmaking on tiny budget

After seeing the first teaser of Thale I wasn't expecting very much of this Norwegian low budget film which is a mix of the genres crime, drama, gore and adventure. The more I got surprised by seeing the film at the cinema.

'Thale' is based on a mythical character in Norwegian folklore called 'Huldra'. A hulder is a beautiful young woman living in water in the dark woods, louring men into the water with them, getting attention with their heavenly singing. This folklore came from warning kids to stay away from waters, back in the ancient times. A hulder looks just like a woman, except you tell it's a hulder by her tail.

The film opens with some rather disgusting scenes, really preparing you on something the film isn't - gory. Two crime scene washers comes to a cottage out in the deep woods. It's a long time since I've seen such a start of a film involving blood, stiff body and puking. But the film soon changes more into a thriller when the two men find i cellar looking like a serial killers office. Then they discover Thale...

It's easy to see that this film is low budget, but there's much talent here. Silje Reinåmo (Thale) is very good, and the CGI is handled well. Norwegian folklore suits CGI great. With more work on the script, this could easily have been a classic like "TrollHunter".

Far from perfect, but I'll give a 6/10 for the talent and the difference. I'd like to see more on a larger budget and a more thorough script.