The Bothersome Man (Den brysomme mannen)
Year: 2006
Language: Norwegian
Director: Jens Lien
Cast: Trond Fausa Aurvag
The Bothersome man is a cryptic Norwegian film. We feel as if we are in someone’s dream while we are watching the movie. Or nightmare. You can take your pick. Andreas (Aurvag) is a youngish man who is driven through a vast expanse of land to somewhere which looks like the middle of a desert. A huge welcome sign is put up on the solitary house in the middle. From there he is taken to an apartment complex where he has been assigned accommodation. He is told that he will work as an accountant for a company.
He then joins the company where he is greeted warmly by everyone, especially his boss. He is given a cabin to work out of. Throughout we feel a pall of gloom descending on the movie. There is a palpable sense of despair and sadness that seems to emanate from Andreas. He seems as if from a different world. I felt like he was constantly thinking of how to escape the mundane normalcy of his existence. Slowly things start becoming absurd. Andreas sees a man dead, stuck on the pointed grills of a wall, his innards tailing out onto the street. He begins a relationship with a woman, and moves in with him. Everything seems robotic, everyone else seems incapable of feeling much, his girlfriend included. He tries to escape this by dating another woman, only to find that she is as unfeeling. He tries various ways to get away from his existence – cutting his finger in a cutter, trying to jump in front of a train and so on. Where is this movie going? I don’t have much else to say. Those who are genuinely interested in the art of moviemaking and the exploration of unlikely themes, well, this movie is for you. For everyone else, you could test your patience…and how far you are willing to stretch your mind!
Verdict: Slightly depressing, extremely provocative movie.
Rating: 
Hot: Leaves a lot of room for thought.
Not: Not everyone will have the patience for this.
