Not Much Fire in the Dragon's Cave

Abstract

Goteborg International Film Festival Goteborg, Sweden January 25-February 4, 2013 It is easy to see why Goteborg chose the dragon as its mascot: faced with bracing temperatures at this late-January festival, a fire-breathing friend would be welcome. Mythical creatures aside, the Swedish port has a very real, and typically Scandinavian, talent for creating cosy ambience. Here, Christmas cheer lasts all winter: at night, small lamps glow at nearly every window of the city's expansive brick apartment blocks. There is a comforting 1950s warmth in the movie theaters' vintage neon signs, from the curlicues of the Biopalatset and Bio Roy to the Viking ship that sails endlessly above the marquee of the palatial Draken (Dragon, the real source of the festival's signature Dragon Awards). By day, in candlelit cafes, fika means more than just a coffee break: it is the whole experience of hot drink, sweet treat (fresh cinnamon bun or cardamom shortbread), warm atmosphere, and relaxed conversation. The Goteborg International Film Festival is the biggest in Scandinavia, and its grand prix one of the most generous film prizes in the world: the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film is worth one million kronor (over $156,000). Given the substantial reward, it was disheartening to discover that the eight films in this year's competition were weak. There was not a bad film among them, nor was there a masterpiece: they were, largely speaking, mediocre and conventional films. The most interesting aspect of the selection was the unintended emergence of common settings and themes: the eight films can be divided into four pairs, and in each of these pairs, one film is clearly stronger. There are two films set in forests, two at sea, and two in the violent demimonde. The two remaining films are linked by their character study, examining personal principles and how these are challenged. The winner of this year's Dragon Award falls into the final category. Before Snowfall (2013, directed by Hisham Zaman) follows a young Kurdish Iraqi in pursuit of his sister, who has fled an arranged marriage. He intends to kill her to restore the family honor, but when he himself falls in love, he begins to have doubts about his mission. This is the most engaging film in the competition, with appealing characters, powerful emotion, varied settings, and relevant themes. Visually, it is well made, though in no way innovative. Some of the situations and turns of events are implausible, but this is Zaman's debut feature; with the support of the Dragon Award's prize money, he will have a chance to improve his narrative development skills in subsequent projects. The weaker film in the Personal Principles category was I Belong (2012, directed by Dag Johan Haugerud). The film draws most of its strength from the script and the rest from the actors' skillful performances: the resulting film is interesting but not cinematic. Tellingly, I Belong is framed as the visualization of a reading: it opens with a recording studio session where an author is making her novel into an audio book. As she reads, the film reenacts the scenes she describes. In her three stories, women are faced with awkward situations: a nurse reluctantly takes on the supervision of a trainee, a translator agrees to work on a book she doesn't like, and a widow is faced with an overly generous offer from her sister-in-law. All three situations are original and dramatic, but gain little from being transposed to film; in fact, each would probably work better in a novel or play. Moving to the world of urban crime, the next strongest film in the competition was Michael Noer's Northwest (2013), winner of the FIPRESCI (Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique) Prize. The film centers on a young man named Casper. At home, with his mother and younger siblings, he couldn't be more gentle. In the outside world, he works as a burglar, targeting Copenhagen's wealthy households for luxury goods, which are sold by an Arab gang. …