Bothersome Man

Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2006, 90 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

An Orwellian, anti-utopian and Kafkaesque vision of a depersonalised, sterile world, in which 42-year-old Andreas arrives one morning in a strange town, without knowing why or how he got there. His arrival is expected, however: there’s a home, a job, and even a girlfriend waiting for him. As each day passes, more and more strange facts come to light about the town and the way it operates; Andreas is even convinced that there is no escape from this place. After some time, he meets Hugo, who takes him down to the cellar of his house and shows him a secret crack in the wall, from which Andreas can hear wonderful music evoking everything which he is missing in his life. Perhaps this crack is a gateway to another, better world. Andreas and Hugo plan their escape.

About the director

Jens Lien (b. 1967, Oslo) studied at the International Film School in London, where he graduated with the film Montana. He began his career as a documentary filmmaker and director of commercials, and he also made short films, which won him recognition both in Norway and abroad, and two of them, Shut the Door (Doren som ikke smakk, 2000) and Natural Glasses (Naturlige briller, 2001), were included in the competition programme at Cannes two years running. His feature-length debut Jonny Vang (2003), about tangled relationships between three people from a provincial town, was premiered at the Berlin IFF (Panorama) and, in the same year, it was also screened at Karlovy Vary in the section Another View.