Everybody Hates Johan (2022 | Norway | 93 minutes | Hallvar Witzø)
A dark comedy with plenty of moments to chuckle at, Everybody Hates Johan follows the life of a man, Johan Grande, born in the small town of Titran, Norway. This small town had the misfortune of being close to the frontlines of World War II, but lucky for Titran the Grandes had a knack for blowing up bridges… but they also had a knack for rubbing every other townsperson the wrong way.
After a mishap with an unexploded bomb he lost his parents and went to live with his aunt and uncle at the nearby lighthouse. With levity and kindness after such a loss, he found love with a schoolmate Solvor. After yet another accident she was left disfigured and he was shunned and pushed out of town, so he left for America. After many years as a demolition expert, he came home to make amends with Solvor and ask for her hand, but she’d have nothing to do with him. Attempting love in any way he could, finding it, losing it, blowing up more people and even spending some time in jail, you just wish Johan could find happiness.
The characters were slightly off-kilter just like I’d expect from any Norwegian comedy/drama, but you couldn’t help but love the authenticity, contentedness and perseverance of Johan and his entire family. His parents and aunt and uncle loved him through and through no matter what happened and that bled into the way Johan saw the world and interacted with loved ones; it was so heartwarming. Admittedly it was much darker than I expected with jaunty, silly music to keep the mood somewhat buoyant. Unexpected heartbreak, folks being blown to bits, and town politics brought the mood down on more than a couple occasions, but it never lasted long. Just like Johan himself, there was an overall mellowed joy about it that permeated the story from beginning to end. As I suspected, it has been one of the highlights of my SIFF so far.
Wild Men (2021 | Denmark | 104 minutes | Thomas Daneskov)
Wild Men is an unexpected journey of two unlikely “friends” each in a load of trouble of their own making. Martin is tired of the drudgery of every day family life, despite how good he actually has it. Musa wants to build a relationship with his family, but only finds employment in the seedy world of drug sales. The two find each other in the woods after Musa is injured in a car crash and Martin is hiding out after robbing a grocer out of desperation because he couldn’t survive in the wilderness on his own after all.
Martin thinks he’s pulling his new friend into his shenanigans when Musa is the one running from the law and the dangerous associates he left for dead at the scene of the accident. Musa promises he knows of a Viking paradise just up the way and lures Martin into helping him get to a ferry that means freedom for them both, but when they discover it’s just a cheesy tourist trap, things begin to unravel. The police are on their tails, Musa’s seedy crew is out for blood and neither one of them know how to survive in the wilderness. Revealing their deepest desires, they both realize family is what means the most and it’s time they did right by them, but is it too late?
Speaking of dark comedy, there were barely any laughs to be had with Wild Men. I had been expecting a lot more hijinks, but found soul-searching instead. While it may have been set in the incredibly scenic mountains of Norway, Wild Men is a story we’ve all heard before. A man bored with his perfectly wonderful life complete with wife, kids and a good job, yearns for more… talk about a mid-life crisis. Why do you think fantasy camps (like playing bass in a rock band, riding a bull, or playing in the major leagues) are so popular? Humans want what we can’t have and if we’re suffocating under responsibility, some folks, like Martin, just run away. At least he attempts to redeem himself in the end with a modicum of growth and respect for those he’d abandoned. Whether they’ll take him back is another story.
Keep up with us during the Seattle International Film Festival on Twitter (@thesunbreak) and follow all of our ongoing coverage via our SIFF 2022 Index and our SIFF 2022 posts