Reviews

This is purely a propaganda film. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Leni Riefenstahl never apologized, nor should Mr. Moore. Moore presents the facts in a way that makes Mr. Bush look bad. Like shooting ducks in a pond. The footage of Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, and their ilk are from zoomed-in low res TV video, making them look even more sinister than they are (if that's possible). A parent of a dead war hero makes a trip to Washington and finds release by focusing anger at the White House. I have never heard an ovation in a cineplex before today, and that speaks to something in American society, not the quality of the film. Although Moore did a good job, he did not do a great job, but I am upset even more by the "reviews" on IMDb obviously written by people who have not seen this film.

Herman repackages childhood angst into adult angst. This may be the most mainstream of Lars Saabye Christensen's works to make the transition to film, and yet it is most outstanding. For full disclosure, I did translate the novel for US publication, but the film exceeded my expectations. Like Lars' characters in "Brennede blomster" and "Ti kniver i hjertet" ("Cross My Heart"), they seem alive, real, and I would guess, based on his life. Herman's speaking of himself in the third person reflects this, I think: the everyman facing everyday without everything he needs, but a dispassionate spectator to what happens while still yet fully involved. Laugh and cry on the edge of a knife.

The director and crew faithfully recreate a bit of Lars Saabye Christensen's novel "Beatles" (aka "Yesterday"), set in 1960's Oslo, for the screen. Even in the high standards set by other great Scandinavian coming-of-age films, this is worth a view. Lead actors Torstein Hølmebakk, Lise Fjeldstad, and Jan Petter Berglund are outstanding. I believe this was LSC's first screenplay to make it to film. The content, a teenage boy falling for an older woman, was not watered down or turned into a mindless comedy, which may be why it was never generally released in the US. But combine the smarts of "Harold and Maude" with the era of "Help" and this is what you get. This *should* be a teen cult film.