Serendipity and coincidence are phenomena we experience every day in this strange world of ours. There are even songs about it – think "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette. No, a free ride when you have already paid is not ironic, but it is coincidental and surprising – just like a dozen or so people's lives colliding in the middle of the night in the middle of Oslo. That is the story of Erik Poppe's "Hawaii, Oslo," and through these moments of serendipity and tragedy, we are introduced to a host of tough spots, hard issues and happy coincidences that force us to question the concepts of fate and chance.
To tie these stories together with simple words would be a struggle – their stories are many- faceted and hopelessly intertwined. The story starts with Leon, who is waiting for Åsa, who crosses paths with Magne and Mikkel, who have a deep but mysterious connection to Bobbie, who forms a relationship with Viggo, who delivered the dying child of Frode and Milla, who, desperately seeking care, cross paths with Trygve, who is Leon's criminal brother. And to top it all off, there is the character Vidar, more or less an angel with premonitions that send him all over the city, encountering nearly all of the characters, in his search for Leon. Please, let me confuse you more. However, in the two hours it takes to establish and connect these stories, we get an overwhelming sense that these are normal people with normal lives in a very abnormal 24-hour period of time. The reason for this abnormality is fate, chance, coincidence, serendipity – nobody understands the concept quite the same way, but it that which makes the world so wildly unpredictable and brings about the miracles that some are so baffled by they can't help but attribute them to a higher power. Some people call it God's will – but maybe not the Norwegians.
So how do you convey so much anguish and excitement into just a couple of hours?
It starts with the plot. Without giving too much away, there are many plot devices that bring these people together. There is birth, death, illness, love, grief, suicide, promise, theft, desperation and a sense of the divine. There are posters, ambulances, hospitals, pills, churches, restaurants, parks, parties, pets and jails. Somehow, all of these people experience all of these emotions in all of these places together. And it connects them in a way neither they nor we can fully understand.
Then there are the technical aspects. The movie is filmed with a hand-held camera, which brings a reality to the characters' struggles and successes. It is almost as if the viewer is there with the people, experiencing their emotions and more, because we as a viewer know that there is so much more complexity to each situation than the individual characters can see. This simultaneously brings a sense of grandeur and simplicity to each scene, as we realize that the world is as complex as the film, and in every moment we experience, there are billions of other people having experiences around the world, many of which likely connect in some way or another to ours. There are countless connections happening every day to everyone and we simply don't notice because of our limited perspective.
Another element of the film that contributes to this sense of mystery is the music. To me, it sounds like a creepy birthday party – coincidentally, something that actually happens in the film. The whole thing is very suspenseful, hinting that things are relatively dandy right now, but they may not be what they seem, which more or less describes the lives of each of these characters; Things seem all right, until they are not. The quality of the music, a sort of conspicuous xylophone that you cannot ignore, perplexingly contributes to the realism as well. Because the music is so obvious, it is clearly an addition, something that could be tossed in to a documentary without distracting from the truth of the image.
Personally, I think this movie is not only entertaining, but also a very successful and thought- provoking film. It sets out to explore the idea of coincidence and how the world is so much smaller than we think, and it does so without being cheesy or unbelievable. It is suspenseful, yet not frustratingly so. And the film is unique – there are very few films that do such an incredible job of informing the audience, maintaining suspense and pulling so many different story lines together. This seamless merging of stories, themes and sensations helps the audience to focus on the deeper motifs of fate and coincidence and leave with contemplations stirring in their head.
To tie these stories together with simple words would be a struggle – their stories are many- faceted and hopelessly intertwined. The story starts with Leon, who is waiting for Åsa, who crosses paths with Magne and Mikkel, who have a deep but mysterious connection to Bobbie, who forms a relationship with Viggo, who delivered the dying child of Frode and Milla, who, desperately seeking care, cross paths with Trygve, who is Leon's criminal brother. And to top it all off, there is the character Vidar, more or less an angel with premonitions that send him all over the city, encountering nearly all of the characters, in his search for Leon. Please, let me confuse you more. However, in the two hours it takes to establish and connect these stories, we get an overwhelming sense that these are normal people with normal lives in a very abnormal 24-hour period of time. The reason for this abnormality is fate, chance, coincidence, serendipity – nobody understands the concept quite the same way, but it that which makes the world so wildly unpredictable and brings about the miracles that some are so baffled by they can't help but attribute them to a higher power. Some people call it God's will – but maybe not the Norwegians.
So how do you convey so much anguish and excitement into just a couple of hours?
It starts with the plot. Without giving too much away, there are many plot devices that bring these people together. There is birth, death, illness, love, grief, suicide, promise, theft, desperation and a sense of the divine. There are posters, ambulances, hospitals, pills, churches, restaurants, parks, parties, pets and jails. Somehow, all of these people experience all of these emotions in all of these places together. And it connects them in a way neither they nor we can fully understand.
Then there are the technical aspects. The movie is filmed with a hand-held camera, which brings a reality to the characters' struggles and successes. It is almost as if the viewer is there with the people, experiencing their emotions and more, because we as a viewer know that there is so much more complexity to each situation than the individual characters can see. This simultaneously brings a sense of grandeur and simplicity to each scene, as we realize that the world is as complex as the film, and in every moment we experience, there are billions of other people having experiences around the world, many of which likely connect in some way or another to ours. There are countless connections happening every day to everyone and we simply don't notice because of our limited perspective.
Another element of the film that contributes to this sense of mystery is the music. To me, it sounds like a creepy birthday party – coincidentally, something that actually happens in the film. The whole thing is very suspenseful, hinting that things are relatively dandy right now, but they may not be what they seem, which more or less describes the lives of each of these characters; Things seem all right, until they are not. The quality of the music, a sort of conspicuous xylophone that you cannot ignore, perplexingly contributes to the realism as well. Because the music is so obvious, it is clearly an addition, something that could be tossed in to a documentary without distracting from the truth of the image.
Personally, I think this movie is not only entertaining, but also a very successful and thought- provoking film. It sets out to explore the idea of coincidence and how the world is so much smaller than we think, and it does so without being cheesy or unbelievable. It is suspenseful, yet not frustratingly so. And the film is unique – there are very few films that do such an incredible job of informing the audience, maintaining suspense and pulling so many different story lines together. This seamless merging of stories, themes and sensations helps the audience to focus on the deeper motifs of fate and coincidence and leave with contemplations stirring in their head.