Norwegian Prize Winner Is Complicated And Dialogue-Pushed First Entry In Dag Johan Haugerud’s Formidable Trilogy – Berlin Movie Pageant

Don't get too excited by the title of the new Norwegian film, “Sex.” The act itself is actually only briefly discussed in this fascinating film, the first in a new trilogy from writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud, relying mostly on the words and descriptions of the main characters rather than much visual information. Haugerud, winner of the Europa Cinemas label for best European film in the Panorama section of the current Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere this week, has announced this as the first of three films – “Sex, Dreams” and then “Love” – ​​with the same cast and which, overall, will explore themes of desire, identity and freedom, not to mention sexuality and the place of gender in our lives and society. This first standalone film also leans heavily on masculinity in ways not usually discussed by men, but here they do in a profound way in this thought-provoking film that also puts Norway's most famous city, Oslo, in the spotlight.

Haugerud's dialogue-driven script is full of monologues delivered in conversational dialogues with either two male colleagues (never named) from a chimney sweeping company and/or their wives. It begins with the boss (Thorbjørn Harr) telling an unseen person about a dream in which he encounters David Bowie, who thinks he is a woman. The dream is described in detail and clearly disturbs him, as he has never experienced such a vivid depiction of gender, his sex and his image from the perspective of others, in such a graphic situation, whether in a dream or not. The camera soon reveals that he is not speaking to a therapist (my first thought) but to a colleague (Jan Gunnar Røise), who then decides, albeit hesitantly at first, to tell of a recent real-life encounter he had with a man in the kitchen of a house where he was working on the chimney, a stranger who, he says, saw him as an object of desire and asked him point blank if he wanted to have sex with him. He tells his colleague that he immediately refused – they are both married – but that he quickly returned after leaving and, he says, ended up having sex with the man. What's more, he even tells his wife (Siri Forberg) all about it in a matter-of-fact way afterwards.

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One can imagine that the story didn't go down well, and for the rest of the 2 hours and 5 minutes, her character is all about becoming more and more deeply disturbed about what this all means, not just for their marriage, but for her, her family, and whether her husband is actually gay. In these intimate and lengthy conversations, he assures everyone that just because he did it once with a man doesn't mean he's an alcoholic. Harr's character also confesses to his wife (a more understanding Birgitte Larsen) his own strange dreams in which David Bowie sees him as a woman, and has to digest the fact that this has more of an impact on his marriage than on his lifelong understanding of his identity and the way he is seen.

Once we're past these heavy, if sometimes tedious, discussions, Haugerud manages to lighten things up a bit, as Harr's character takes his son Hans Petter (Adrian Jenure Skaaland) to a doctor (a wonderfully incisive and natural Anne Marie Ottersen) to examine the boy's injured hand, but at the same time asks her about his own ailments. In a somewhat whimsical way, she begins a story about two young gay men, one of whom is seriously ill. Haugerud suddenly thrusts us into flashbacks to tell this story within a story. I, for one, was glad to get out of the claustrophobic conversations sparked by the chimney sweeps' revelations and into something else, anything else. The slow and deliberate pacing, with minimal camera movement in so many scenes between them and their wives, makes everything seem longer than it is.

Aside from that, Sex is full of wry observations about human behavior and life's unanswered questions about who we really are. The superbly chosen actors, especially Røise and Harr, tell the story in a subdued, almost deadpan style. The camerawork, which also puts Oslo himself in the spotlight, is masterfully executed by Cecile Semec. And as befits such a profound film, it all ends with a musical dance sequence – of course – in which Harr's character performs on stage with his choir while Røise's character and his entire family, now seemingly content to carry on with their lives as before, watch from the audience. No explanations are needed, but perhaps we'll get one as the trilogy moves into the next chapter.

Producers are Yngve Saether and Hege Hauff Hvattum.

Title: sex
Festival: Berlin (Panorama)
Director-Screenwriter: Tag Johan Haugerud
Pour: Jan Gunnar Roise, Thorbjörn Harr, Siri Forberg, Birgitte Larsen, Nasrin Khusrawy, Hadrian Jenure Skaaland, Theo Dahl, Anne Marie Ottersen
Sales agent: M Appeal
Duration: 2 hrs 5 mins

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