Official Selection - Competition 2007 / Kunsten å tenke negativt / Norway 2006
A spirited psychologist accompanies a group of invalids to the house of Ingvild and Geirr, her self-destructive husband who has been wheelchair-bound for two years. Geirr, however, rebels against his wife’s attempts to rescue their marriage via positive thinking therapy. A black comedy about dealing with stifling compassion and false sincerity once and for all.
Geirr is thirty-three. Two years ago he was involved in a car accident and is now impotent and unable to walk. In an attempt to save a marriage in crisis, Geirr’s wife Ingvild invites a group of physically disabled people to visit them, headed by the spirited psychologist Tori. The hitherto self-destructive lover of Johnny Cash and war films rebels against this uninvited invasion of “positive” energy and, aided by his at times brutal sincerity, he tries to gain control of the situation. Inside a fine-looking house in a peaceful part of town, a single night of score-settling evinces expressions of false sincerity, stifling compassion, and seemingly reliable methods for healing the soul. The debut director mixes a familiar brew of Scandinavian psychological drama about human relationships, and sarcastic black comedy, the whole viewed as a raw, quasi-documentary. The filmmaker’s original vision is enhanced by a musical accompaniment aimed at rock gourmets (Steppenwolf, Nina Simone and the above-mentioned Johnny Cash).
79 min / Color, 35 mm
International premiere
Director Bård Breien
/ Screenplay Bård Breien
/ Dir. of Photography Gaute Gunnari
/ Editor Zaklina Stojcevska
/ Producer Dag Alveberg
/ Production Maipo Film & TV-Produksjon AS
/ Cast Marian Saastad Ottesen, Fridjov Såheim, Kirsti Eline Torhaug, Per Schaaning, Henrik Mestad, Kari Simonsen, Kjersti Holmen
/ Contact Norwegian Film Institute , Maipo Film & TV-Produksjon AS, Nordisk Film International Sales
/ Distributor CinemArt, a.s.
www: www.maipo.no
Bård Breien read literary history at Oslo university, and then studied film in Copenhagen. He has written scripts for educational and short films, including Que sera, sera. His first film, Franks prolaps, was nominated for the annual Norwegian Amanda film award in 2003. The film The Art of Negative Thinking is Breien’s feature film debut.
Norwegian Film Institute
Box 482 Sentrum, 0105, Oslo
Norway
Phone: +47 224 745 00
Fax: +47 224 745 97
E-mail: [email protected]
Maipo Film & TV-Produksjon AS
P.O.Box 275, N - 1319, Bekkestua
Norway
Phone: +47 67 525 190
Fax: +47 67 525 196
E-mail: [email protected]
Nordisk Film International Sales
Mosedalvej 14, 2500, Valby
Denmark
Phone: +45 331 882 00
Fax: +45 331 895 50
E-mail: [email protected]
CinemArt, a.s.
Národní 60/28, 111 21, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 949 110
E-mail: [email protected]
Stine Oppegaard
Film Institution Rep.
Bård Breien
Film Director
Fridtjov Saheim
Actor, Actor
Marian Saastad Ottesen
Actress, Actress
Synnove Horsdal
Producer
Tine Klint
Other, Sales Agent
Nicolai Korsgaard
Sales Agent
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