Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun is served well in this film version of his 1890 novel about one of the most fascinatingly turbulent characters in (very) late nineteenth century literature. Pontus (apparently based, to a large extent, on the author), attempts to literally embody the aesthetics he prostelyzes as he tramps through Christiana (near Oslo), Norway, trying to secure a writing gig. Per Oscarsson is amazing as the seriously flawed, outrageously deluded, self-sabotaging, starving artist, who seems unable to enter a room without turning it into an Ibsenian third act.
Director, Henning Carlsen, does a lot more than simply illustrate the world Hamsen originally created. Using Pontus’ perspective as the point from which the narrative extends, the city of Christiana becomes a dream-like labyrynth through which Oscarsson must navigate and find expression. Carlsen and company do it passionately and persuasively, if not exhausively. As little of the beautifully haunting enviorns exist today, the film is a testament to Hamsun’s wonderfully distorted world.
by Marlin Tyree | Source: New Yorker Video
01 Feb 2007 5:42 PM | Submit Comment
