Nordvest (2013)

18-year-old Caspar wants to reach the top, no matter what. He carries out small-time break-ins for Jamal, before moving on to work for big player Björn. All goes well, until Jamal's gang ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Noer

Writers:

Rasmus Heisterberg, Michael Noer

Stars:

Gustav Dyekjær Giese, Oscar Dyekjær Giese, Lene Maria Christensen

4 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gustav Dyekjær Giese	...	Casper
Oscar Dyekjær Giese	...	Andy
Lene Maria Christensen	...	Olivia
Annemieke Bredahl Peppink	...	Freja
Nicholas Westwood Kidd	...	Robin
Roland Møller	...	Bjørn
Dulfi Al-Jabouri	...	Jamal
Ali Abdul Amir Najei	...	Ali
Sandra El-Hussein	...	Irem
Clement Black Petersen	...	Theis
Marina Vorobyeva	...	Sofia
Jelena Bundalovic	...	Petra
Sisse Navntoft	...	Gitte
Irina V. Babenko	...	Escort Girl 1
Monika Paula Fasula	...	Escort Girl 2

Storyline

18-year-old Caspar wants to reach the top, no matter what. He carries out small-time break-ins for Jamal, before moving on to work for big player Björn. All goes well, until Jamal's gang decide they want revenge. What starts with pushing and shoving soon escalates into armed conflict. This is a big test for Caspar: is he ruthless enough for this battle? And will he drag his younger brother into it?

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Plot Keywords:

teenage boy | male nudity | male frontal nudity | male rear nudity | police arrest | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Me And Mr Jonas
Performed & Written by Mikael Hegelund Martinsen, Morten Fremmich Andresen, Jonas Asp Brøsen
2012

User Reviews

Genuine, But Downbeat Doesn't Begin to Describe It's Feel!

Nordvest is director Michael Noer's follow-up to his debut feature, prison film, R. This time Noer, also co-writer, casts his camera eye towards Copenhagen's north west suburbs, which apparently have a shady reputation if this gloomy, fatalistic flick is anything to go by.

In an unusual occurrence, real-life brothers Gustav and Oscar Dyekjaer Giese play teenage siblings Casper and Andy respectively. They are part of a single-parent family doing it tough in this clearly lower socio-economic area. The story plays out through the perspective of older brother Casper, who is playing the part of a pseudo-father in helping his mother support the family unit, but largely using illegal means to do this. The dramatic content of the film mainly arises, when he leaves one smaller criminal outfit, run by Arab immigrants, for a slightly upgraded unit, run by locals. He also tries to keep his younger brother, who is being victimised and stalked by one of the Arab heavies in particular, from becoming too emmeshed in Casper's lifestyle.

It's an intriguingly sad, but not particularly original storyline and one of the movies main deficiencies is that many of the supporting characters aren't all that well-defined. The movie over-focuses the story on Casper, at the expense of expository development of other players. Even brother Andy emerges very much under-written. He ends up looking like a really dim-witted individual, who unexpectedly undergoes a serious personality transformation three-quarters of the way through the film. The brothers' mother plays this strange role, appearing entirely oblivious and almost disinterested in what older son Casper is involved. Other characters such as Robin, come and go too, behaving in idiosyncratic style, that just doesn't seem balanced in the context of what we see played out.

Nordvest isn't really an action film, but there seems to be an almost overabundance of foot chases in a 90 minute movie. By the closing credits, it's fair to say that a fair percentage of viewers will feel a little giddy, taking into account, the hand-held camera work gets shakier and shakier, as the movie and the chases continue.

Noer's investigations of the ties that bind adolescent criminally-inclined siblings, whilst absorbing, ultimately yield nothing really surprising, apart from a glimpse of Denmark's shadowy nether regions. Worthy of a view it may be, but it isn't great entertainment by any means.

Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

18 April 2013 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Northwest

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

DKK12,600,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,438,385

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nordisk Film Production, Danmarks Radio (DR), Det Danske Filminstitut

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1