The University of Oregon’s Department of Landscape Architecture presents a lecture series
THE NORDIC LANDSCAPE IN CONTEMPORARY FILM 115 Lawrence Hall—Free and open to the public All showings at 7:00 p.m. All five Nordic countries—Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland—have remarkably active film industries. Come sample a rich variety of contemporary films, all of them in the original language with subtitles in English. Each film in the ten-week series is preceded by a brief lecture by instructor Whitey Lueck, and is followed by discussion and Q&A. Films are screened under the Educational Fair Use provision of U.S. Copyright Law. Maximum seating in 115 Lawrence is 120; seating is first-come, first-served. Friday, 12 January A Man Called Ove (En Man som Heter Ove) 2015 Directed by Hannes Holm Fifty-nine-year old Ove is the quintessential grumpy old man in his little Swedish neighborhood of semi-detached houses. He spends his days visiting his late wife’s grave, and making sure that everyone else obeys the neighborhood rules. Ove no longer sees any point in living and is looking forward to joining his dear Sonja in the hereafter, when new neighbors—a boisterous young family—come into his life and an unlikely friendship develops. This heartwarming comedy-drama is based on the best-selling novel by Fredrik Bachman, and has been called by some a Swedish version of “It’s a Wonderful Life”—but without Christmas. (Sweden, 116 minutes)
Friday, 19 January Hunger (Sult) 1966 Directed by Henning Carlsen Based on Knut Hamsun’s novel published in 1890, this film is a compelling trip into the mind of the young writer, Pontus, who is driven by starvation to constantly fluctuating extremes of euphoria and despair. The film captures the look and feel of 1890 Oslo—at that time called Kristiania—to perfection, as Pontus wanders the streets of the city in search of both the opportunity to have his work published . . . and love. Despite meeting defeat and suffering at every turn, he maintains his human dignity and pride. (Norway, 112 minutes)
Friday, 26 January The Seagull’s Laughter (Mávahlátur) 2001 Directed by Ágúst Guðmundsson In this comedy, the beautiful, recently widowed Freya returns home to the isolated fishing village of Hafnarfjörður in post-WWII Iceland after living in America as an officer’s wife. Although just a poor, chubby teen when she left home, Freya now has a 20-inch waist and seven suitcases of dresses. She moves in with her aunt and socialist uncle and soon makes it clear that finding a new husband is at the top of her agenda. The film is a close adaptation of the novel Mávahlátur by Kristín Marja Baldursdóttir published in 1995. (Iceland, 102 minutes)
Friday, 2 February Kira’s Reason: A Love Story (En Kærlighedshistorie) 2001 Directed by Ole Christian Madsen (but uncredited) Kira and Mads have been married for some years when she has a breakdown and spends two years in a mental institution away from her family. The movie begins when she is finally released and returns to her home, her husband, and their two children. However, she is not fully recovered and no longer knows how to behave in the outside world. She makes a valiant attempt, however, to resume a normal existence, but recurring problems make it extremely difficult to start over. (Denmark, 93 minutes)
Friday, 9 February The Medicine (Medicinen) 2014 Directed by Colin Nutley Johanna works as a journalist for the women’s magazine Dolce Vita. She’s always short of money; her boss is an airhead; her husband has left her for a younger woman; and her sex life is a big fat zero. In order to earn some money so she can escape to sunny Menorca with her two kids for a week or two, she agrees to be a human guinea pig for a research project looking for a new medicine. The pills, however, have completely unanticipated consequences that change Johanna’s life overnight and shock her friends and coworkers, who have no idea where this very different Johanna has come from. (Sweden, 110 minutes)
Friday, 16 February Brotherhood (Broderskab) 2009 Directed by Nicolo Donato Lars leaves the Danish army after anonymous accusations that he made passes at some of his men. Disillusioned, and angry at his overbearing social democrat mother, he falls in with a Neo-Nazi group and, after initial uncertainty, joins and is taken up as a promising new recruit. Lars then discovers that the group’s members are homophobic as well as racist. He and his homophobic peer Jimmy become comrades and then friends, moving from hostility through grudging admiration to friendship and finally a secret love affair. Events then take a much darker turn when their illicit relationship is uncovered. (Denmark, 97 minutes)
Friday, 23 February
Friday, 2 March
Ragnarok (Gåten Ragnarok) 2013 Directed by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose
In a Better World (Hævnen) 2010 Directed by Susanne Bier
When the Norwegian archaeologist Sigurd Svendsen sets off in search of evidence to support the story of Ragnarok—the end of the world in Norse mythology—he decides to form an expedition with two colleagues and his two kids. This adventure leads them to Finnmark in northernmost Norway and into a “no-man’s-land” between Russia and Norway, where no one has set foot since ancient times. Old Viking drawings take on new meanings here, and reveal something bigger and more spectacular than ever expected. (Norway, 110 minutes)
After his mother’s funeral in England, young Christian moves to Denmark with his Danish-born father, Claus—who he holds responsible for his mother’s passing. On Christian’s first day of school in Denmark he meets Elias, who is being bullied by schoolmates, and defends him, and a strong bond quickly forms between the two boys. Ten-year-old Elias’s parents are separated, and his father Anton commutes between his home in Denmark and his work as a doctor at an African refugee camp. The two families are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness. (Denmark, 119 minutes)
Friday, 9 March Here is Your Life (Här har du ditt liv) 1966 Directed by Jan Troell This charming movie is based on a semi-autobiographical work by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Eyvind Johnson, and tells the story of a working-class boy coming of age in a rural area of Sweden’s far north during the first World War. The cinematography is beautiful and the story is both moving and funny. Moreover, the film is full of cameos of some of the biggest stars in Swedish cinema, including Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, and Per Oscarsson, the star of Hunger, also shown in this year’s film series. (Sweden, 169 minutes)
Friday, 16 March Nobel’s Last Will (Nobels Testamente) 2012 Directed by Peter Flinth In this fast-paced and artfully done film—based on the best-selling novel by Swedish crime writer Lisa Marklund—crime reporter Annika Bengtzon unwittingly becomes part of the news herself after witnessing a spectacular murder right in front of her at the annual Nobel Banquet held in Stockholm’s resplendent city hall. As she investigates the events that led up to the murder and gets closer to finding the truth, the situation becomes increasingly dangerous. All along, the doting young mother of two tries to balance her work life with her longing to be both a good mother as well as a supportive spouse. (Sweden, 90 minutes)
