Search - Hawaii, Oslo on DVD

Much Better than 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey'

Artist & Author | Near Mt. Baker, WA | 01/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By now, most everyone has heard of the book or movie entitled 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey." This is a Norwegian movie much like that old story. I wasn't too impressed with the recent "Bridge" movie, but I really liked this Norwegian movie. It has a little bit of everything - humor, tear jerker, babies and two young boys, mystery, romance, family problems, and even mystical elements. The amazing thing is that they are all woven together with extremely unusual mastery for a movie. It even has a surprise ending that, even though you see it happen in the beginning of the movie, you don't realize it until the climax!

The production quality and the acting is every bit as well done as the best from Hollywood. I have over two thousand DVDs, mostly dealing with kids or movies I think kids should see, and this movie certainly comes in the top ten percent in story, production quality, acting, human interest, and just about every other category you can think of. The only bad language comes from a very hurt, angry boy of about twelve. The only drawback for many viewers is that it is subtitled; but if you are used to subtitles you'll hardly realize you are reading the dialogue. If you haven't experienced the amazing quality and stories of many foreign films, this one would be a great one with witch to begin watching them."

Story of many lives

Reader | Boca Raton, FL | 12/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For the people who do not know, Film Movement is independent movie company that brings compelling story from a different part of the world every month. I have seen many films from this company and so far have not been disappointed at all. "Hawaii, Oslo" movie is one of the best I have seen. It is a story of many people whose lives, actions and caring about each other intersects all their lives in a matter of a single day. We learn the fate of a young couple and their newly born son, destiny of two young boys without mother whose father dies, story about a mentally disabled man who under pressure and stress deals with it by running. In order to see how are they all connected with each other and how their actions aftect their seemingly unrelated lives, you must see this movie. Once you see it, you will be glad that you did. Definitely a great movie for people who do not mind wonderful foreign movies with subtitles."

Study of the Human Psyche

Conner Macleod | USA | 11/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just finished this film and I must say I was quite impressed. There's no singular protagonist, it's one of those ensemble pieces in which all these various, seemingly disparate characters all tie together more and more throughout the film. An element of mysticism pervades the storyline, primarily through the character of Vidar who may not be what he seems. Is he an angel sent to earth to save Leon from himself? The film leaves that up to the audience, you be the judge.

The film starts off with Vidar who's a ward at a mental hospital, and it's his job to look after Leon. Leon's condition is never quite explained, but it's some type of severe angst, perhaps xenophobia, it's hard to say exactly what, all we know is that he fears people to a certain extent and deals with it by running away. Vidar has a dream in which Leon's killed after he escapes the mental hospital, so when he wakes up, he fears that it's real and does what he can to prevent it from happening.

Then we're introduced to two other characters who are having a baby, Frode and Milla, who were in Vidar's dream, but they're a real couple who have a newborn baby in the ambulance that Vidar sees killing Leon. After they arrive at the hospital, they receive the terrible news that their baby is born with a virtually inoperable heart condition, and the only place that can perform the surgery is a private clinic in the states. There's only one major snag, the operation costs $150,000, something which they can't afford. From there on out they struggle to come to terms with their predicament and go through various scenarios of how to best deal with their options.

After this we're introduced to a couple of brothers who are seemingly just juvenile delinquents that are spraying graffiti on walls around their block. Along comes a beautiful blonde who's on her way to meet Leon, her former boyfriend who is now institutionalized. The boys steal her purse and run away, but Åse grabs the youngest boy by the arm and doesn't let go and follows him home to get her purse back from his brother. When she comes to their home, she finds out that there's a good reason for their miscreant behavior. At the same time all this is occuring, there's a newspaper delivery girl who finds a sick cat and an unconscious woman who's apparently overdosed on pain medication, she calls 911 and the EMT personnel show up to take care of the dying woman. The EMT guys are the same ones who drive the ambulance that kill Leon in Vidar's dream.

The last major character the story introduces is Leon's brother, Trygve, who is a prisoner that gets a temporary visit to see his brother on his birthday. He's a pathological liar that does everything he can to get his way, although he genuinely cares about his brother and wants to help him out the only way he knows how, with brute force and money. A primitive man, but not without love and compassion.

Without giving too much away, all of these characters' lives intersect each other at several times in the course of the film, without knowing who everyone is nor what impact they have on each other, but their thoughts and actions have a tremendous effect on one another. The movie is powerful because of the performances more so than the story itself, but that's not to say that the story isn't poignant in its own right. A highly untraditional narrative reminiscent of the Oscar winning 'Crash', but it sets itself apart by making the story come alive through its idiosyncracies, those of the characters and their unique bond to each other, and those of the story and how it somewhat sporadically weaves its tale. It doesn't really play by any regular rules, some parts are left ambiguous on purpose, partially so that we as the audience don't dwell on the unimportant and rather focus on the poignancy of the characters' plight, but also for the effect of making us think more about the interconnectedness of human beings, the world we live in and what it means to exist, what is truly important, what is life and how do we measure its significance. At first I was a bit skeptical and almost didn't see it through to completion, but I'm glad I stuck with it because the journey was worth the price of admission, it left me thinking about these issues and that's a rare feat with today's films in general."