I recently saw this film at a screening by the Desert Film Society in Palm Springs. I had wanted to see this at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival where it had it's international debut outside of Norway but screenings were sold out so I was eager to see this as it had good reviews by those I know who saw it. Eric Poppe makes his directorial debut in this film. He had been a cameraman so experience in filming a movie was there but how was he going to direct this story and it's actors? Well this film had a wonderful cast of actors who although they may have not been individually great actors, collectively as an ensemble cast they played their parts with an authenticity that left the viewer as seeing these as real people not just screen characters. I like characters in a film and this has plenty. The implausibility of these stories weaving together is quickly forgotten and in place of the implausible is a wonderful story that you want to climb aboard and ride to it's conclusion. Poppe uses hand held cameras through this film's shooting so effectively that you forget that this is not a huge budget film with track and crane shots but a simple presentation that when effectively done presents the film in a straightforward manor that can be just as effective. No dependency on jerky movements and fast and stylistic camera movement but instead on honest presentation transcribed to film. The sound in this film is outstanding as well. Many films demand great acting performances to carry an other wise weak script. This film had good acting performances delivered from a balanced script. This is a psychological drama and a very good film and I would rate it a 8.0 of a possible 10 and highly recommend it.
Review of Hawaii, Oslo
