First off; As many of the reviews here mention, the actors speaking English when they are all Norwegian, has a major impact on the movie. In a negative sense, to me. It seems that Greengrass has made a point of them speaking with Norwegian accents. Although when he HAD to make them speak English, I think that was a good choice. Norwegians trying to speak genuine English with American or British accents and not doing it perfectly sounds even worse.
Also, the language is inconsistent. Sometimes the road signs and other writings are in English, sometimes in Norwegian (Oslo City Center as a road sign and POLITI on the police uniforms). At Utøya island in the beginning of the movie, the kids are singing a Norwegian song in front of the camp fire, whilest all dialogue is in English. All of this makes the language desition even more confusing.
The reason I've spent so much of the review stressing this is because it actually lowers the quality of the viewing experience substantially.
I read an interview with Greengrass, explains his language desition simply with "I don't speak Norwegian, so it would have been hard to direct". That, to me, is too weak an explanation. Take director Mel Gibson as an example; both "Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto" are films with non-English speakers.
My final comment on why the movie should have been in Norwegian, is because this is an important, powerful and horrific story that needs to be told. The way Norway, as a country, came together in the aftermath. That the event constitutes one of the worst national tragedies, makes a strong argument as to why the actors, who portray real people, living and dead, should have been speaking their first language. It would have made the performances more genuine and believeable.
This wasnt't supposed to be a long review, but oh well.
As for the acting, I think it's mostly very good. Portraying real people who have been through something like this, is a difficult job. I think Jonas Strand Gravli, who portrays Viljar, makes a very good leading role debut. Both respectful to the real Viljar and a powerful performance as an actor. I also thought Anders Danielsen Lie was impressive as Breivik. Cold and calculated, and in my opinion a pretty accurate portrayal.
The movie is based on the book "One of Us" by Åsne Seierstad. Since I have read it, I noticed quite a few factual strays. Of course, the movie is based on a book, and is not a documentary, so this is to be expected. I am however, agreeing with someone who wrote that the shooting at Utøya seemed to last only 5 minutes. Erik Poppes movie "Utøya" who also came out this year, paints a more accurate picture of how long the minutes seemed for the victims.
There is not a doubt in my mind that this movie would have been so much better if the actors spoke Norwegian. I was unfortunately not able to forget about it completely during the movie, and it distracted me from enjoying it completely. (As much as one can enjoy a movie of this character).
I think although that the movie will be more popular with international audiences due to Greengrass' choice of making it English speaking. It is an important story to tell. This movie tells it with respect.
Also, the language is inconsistent. Sometimes the road signs and other writings are in English, sometimes in Norwegian (Oslo City Center as a road sign and POLITI on the police uniforms). At Utøya island in the beginning of the movie, the kids are singing a Norwegian song in front of the camp fire, whilest all dialogue is in English. All of this makes the language desition even more confusing.
The reason I've spent so much of the review stressing this is because it actually lowers the quality of the viewing experience substantially.
I read an interview with Greengrass, explains his language desition simply with "I don't speak Norwegian, so it would have been hard to direct". That, to me, is too weak an explanation. Take director Mel Gibson as an example; both "Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto" are films with non-English speakers.
My final comment on why the movie should have been in Norwegian, is because this is an important, powerful and horrific story that needs to be told. The way Norway, as a country, came together in the aftermath. That the event constitutes one of the worst national tragedies, makes a strong argument as to why the actors, who portray real people, living and dead, should have been speaking their first language. It would have made the performances more genuine and believeable.
This wasnt't supposed to be a long review, but oh well.
As for the acting, I think it's mostly very good. Portraying real people who have been through something like this, is a difficult job. I think Jonas Strand Gravli, who portrays Viljar, makes a very good leading role debut. Both respectful to the real Viljar and a powerful performance as an actor. I also thought Anders Danielsen Lie was impressive as Breivik. Cold and calculated, and in my opinion a pretty accurate portrayal.
The movie is based on the book "One of Us" by Åsne Seierstad. Since I have read it, I noticed quite a few factual strays. Of course, the movie is based on a book, and is not a documentary, so this is to be expected. I am however, agreeing with someone who wrote that the shooting at Utøya seemed to last only 5 minutes. Erik Poppes movie "Utøya" who also came out this year, paints a more accurate picture of how long the minutes seemed for the victims.
There is not a doubt in my mind that this movie would have been so much better if the actors spoke Norwegian. I was unfortunately not able to forget about it completely during the movie, and it distracted me from enjoying it completely. (As much as one can enjoy a movie of this character).
I think although that the movie will be more popular with international audiences due to Greengrass' choice of making it English speaking. It is an important story to tell. This movie tells it with respect.