Charming and refreshing, Hawaii, Oslo is an intelligent drama with a deceptively easygoing atmosphere. I say deceptively because we will be talking about some pretty difficult issues. Hey Sweden! They’re not Swedish Mac, they’re Norwegian. Now I am certain that there’s a secret film organization that resides deep in the Scandinavian mountains and has figured out how to make phenomenal movies. The genre is always somewhere between drama and light comedy, translation: the genre is life. After watching Hawaii, Oslo you will have to take a break from those mindless Hollywood movies and just revel in the fact that there are people out there who are fighting, for all of us, to live In a Better World.
I know, I know, sometimes I get carried away with praises, but this is the effect of Hawaii, Oslo. It’s one of those interlocking stories movies, wherein at the beginning you are not quite certain who is who and what’s going. However, step by step, scene by scene you get more and more drawn into their stories. We follow quite colorful characters in the beautiful city of Oslo, Norway. And you’ll soon learn why we have that Hawaii in the title. I wonder what’s your Hawaii?
On one of the hottest days in Oslo, we follow some of its inhabitants as they go along with their daily activities. Now, this sounds a bit boring, but when I tell you who are those inhabitants and what they do, you will see that this is far from boring. An institutionalized kleptomaniac, a couple with a baby on the way, a hardened criminal, and that’s just a few of them. I totally didn’t mention the seer others.
After all those praises it’s time for a little critique. The story is derivative and far-fetched, but certainly in the ballpark with the new generation that just loves these stories. Of course, I’m talking about the main story, the individual ones are pretty awesome and fucking realistic. It was a true experience for me to see some of the events that happened and try to imagine how it might have felt to really go through them. The dialogues are so fucking real that Hawaii, Oslo will just suck you into its world. Until it kinda breaks reality, which I would name as its biggest fault.
However, if you consider just how safe and neatly-packed are similar movies, this one feels really refreshing. It’s a bit rough around the edges but it has a heart. If you’re looking for similar movies check out Babel, Crash and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing. Enjoy.
Director: Erik Poppe
Writer: Erik Poppe, Harald Rosenløw-Eeg
Cast: Trond Espen Seim, Jan Gunnar Røise, Stig Henrik Hoff, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Aksel Hennie, Petronella Barker
Fun Facts: During the bank robbery scene, bystanders thought it was the real thing and called the police on them.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427339/
