Den brysomme mannen

Plot synopsis:
Andreas Ramsfjell (Trond Fausa Aurvaag) stands on a subway station platform waiting for a train. The station is deserted save for a young couple, a short distance from Andreas, who French kiss in the most un-erotic and artificial manner one can imagine. Noticing them, Andreas can't escape the overwhelming feeling he has of utter depressing wretchedness - yet, escape he must. As a train arrives he calmly steps off the platform into its path.Out of a white emptiness, it is as if Andreas has been pulled from the womb as he arrives at a deserted way station in the middle of nowhere, on a coach on which he is the sole passenger. Let off the coach, he is left standing like a bewildered innocent abroad. A white handwritten banner above the station welcomes him. Very perfunctory, a middle aged man with a ladder appears and takes down the banner. Andreas introduces himself. The man cheerfully informs him that he is expected and that he is there to drive him into town.They drive through an impossibly picturesque countryside to Andreas's new place, a modern low-rise apartment block. The man hands Andreas the keys to the furnished apartment along with an envelope containing details of his new job as an accountant with a firm of contractors down town. He departs telling Andreas: "You'll get used to it."At work the next day in his swish, glittering city office Andreas is greeted as if everyone has been expecting him, but he encounters his first discordant note when on his lunch break he sees, in the street, a man impaled on railings, having jumped to his death. A well-drilled team of street cleaners arrive and proceed to remove the body without any passers-by even batting an eye.The next day Andreas, disturbed by the lack of emotion and inability to experience sensation shown by those around him, accidentally-on-purpose cuts off the end of his finger on a guillotine at work. He passes out with the pain. However, by the time he arrives home and removes the bandage, his finger has miraculously regenerated.He decides to go back to the way station where he first arrived. On seeing the coach that brought him to the city he tries to follow this in his car but can't keep up. Arriving at the place where the coach disappeared from his view he sees tyre tracks that come to an abrupt stop, as if the coach simply disappeared into thin air. Returning to the office Andreas resolves to try harder to fit in.At a dinner party he meets a beautiful woman, Anne Britt (Petronella Barker), who sells kitchen interiors for a living. They start seeing each other and Andreas moves in with her. It isn't long however, before the soullessness of this relationship and everything else begins again to weigh heavy on Andreas. He tries talking about his disconnection with the sterile utopia, devoid of children, the old, animals, and any diversity of ethnicity, creed or colour but finds this is met with universal denial and disquiet on the part of all with whom he would broach the subject. All that is save the lone voice of Hugo (Per Schaaning), a cleaner, who pipes up from a stall in the men's room of a club, one night, ranting about the feeble potency of the alcohol and food and hot chocolate having no taste.Seeking more than a mere superficial human connection Andreas's attentions eventually turn to Ingeborg (Birgitte Larsen), a co-worker in his office. Following a series of dates with Ingeborg, Andreas believes that he has found this. He surprises her over dinner, one evening, with the news that he has left Anne for her. However, it is Andreas's turn to be surprised when Ingeborg confesses that she had never thought of their relationship as serious, although that said she could, she supposed, dump her string of other lovers and move in with him as this would mean an upgrade to a bathtub instead of making do with the shower at her own place. Andreas is utterly devastated; he gets up from the table and without a word leaves her in the restaurant.Once again finding himself at the subway station, Andreas tries to kill himself. Run over and hit by several trains he succeeds only in surviving this latest suicide bid. Battered and bloodied he returns home to Anne, who is pleased to learn that a joint invitation in their social calendar, to go go-karting is still on.One evening while passing the home of Hugo, the fellow dissident he had briefly encountered at the club, Andreas hears a lilting and affecting music coming from a cellar window. He gains entry to the building and knocks on a door answered by Hugo. Warily and very reluctantly Hugo lets him in. In a room dripping with artificial lighting, Hugo shows Andreas the small light to another world that emanates from a hole in the wall. From this tiny fissure, long banished olfactory and auditory sensations waft into the room: the two men dink this in. Andreas becomes determined to break through to the source.The pair tunnel through solid rock for days and are just on the point of breaking through completely to the other side when they are seized by the authorities. Hugo is released after recanting and begging to stay. Andreas is forcibly expelled from the city for his disruptive influence. He is bundled into the baggage bay of the coach on which he first arrived and driven off to a frozen waste where he is abandoned.

Tags: cult, dark, psychedelic, entertaining

Review:
Food tastes of nothing, drinks don't get you drunk, no children anywhere; after initial steps of fitting in, Andreas searches for ways to escape the bland new world.
It is a sharp look at the values that rules the country and at the lack of sentiments and feeling of the Norwegian society.Note that Andreas - does he arrive to Oslo by his own will - does not really has a job, but a place in the society that give him access to "happyness": - an apartment - a convertible - friends from the work place - a girl, who has only interest for kitchens - another girl who cannot say I want but only I may The girls are cruelly described, but again the 1st one is the typical Norwegian "witch" (sorry to use this word, I translate literally from Norwegian) and the second the everyone's girl friend; both are typical characters of the Norwegian society.Andreas has other values, is sensitive and want to make choices: warm chocolate and children.It is deep buried in the cellars of the old buildings of Oslo housing old people; the room at the end of the tunnel is a typical grandma Norwegian kitchen.The soundtrack is Peer Gynt, almost the Norwegian national anthem, adding again to that lost paradise's nostalgia.The final scene is shot at the house of common of Oslo and the people coming out of the building are meant to be the deputies or minister of the country and they tell Andreas that they did everything to make him happy, if I remember correctly, just before expelling him.Although Andreas injures himself to show his feelings,the gore scenes may seem strange here but maybe the director use it to mock the conformity of the Norwegian cinema, as it has been mandatory for the last decade to show very violent scenes in almost every movie.Is the bus also a typical character of the Norwegian society?
The thing that impresses my the most in this movie is how they way of making the city seem so surrealistic, even though I have seen a lot of these places in real life they seem so distant.
I believe there are two angles to the story, first, it's the world satyric view, presented in an obvious Kafkaesque manner, underlining the sordid spectacle behind some of life's most common, but also pleasant, or comfortable moments and elements, which are usually enough to keep man functioning in society.
Apart from this so called common bliss, there are some, who cannot help asking themselves some more uncomfortable questions, like, where they come from, or weather they can have some other form of bliss, weather there could be a reason for them being or weather there could be something they missed out on, or, even more sinister, weather there could be something the system itself is withholding from them.Second, the most interesting aspect of this film, I believe, is the fact that it attacks head-on this natural compulsion to dissect the world around us, questioning it by our personal judgment, and usually condemning it because it doesn't serve us better, because it's not tailor-made to suit us as a person.
Instead the man gets to be dismissed by this greater power(let's call it THE SYSTEM, because the authors clearly avoid calling it GOD, perhaps further underlining that the SYSTEM is MAN - made and therefore can be mastered by man, unlike FATE, which is a concept closer to religion) on it's own terms, not by killing him, but by showing him that there is a place for the man who asks/wants too much, suggesting maybe, that true fulfillment does not come from the outside world, but from within, and if the outside world "decides" to provide you with some comfort, you should learn to accept it, without questioning the fabric of every little aspect of it.
What we have here is a film perfect for anyone that participates in the world of post-industrialism: those who sit in their privatized home, earning money by buying and selling sensual-less commodities and perpetuating a system that values little other than the preservation of self.The beautiful filming (I always appreciate fix 35s and soft boxes) makes it an even stranger place to travel through, both enjoyable to look at but frightening to comprehend (perhaps that's overly dramatic, but its true).Andreas' journey through his hell is overwhelmingly tragic.
The film works on two levels - immersing the viewer in the experience for the duration of the film, while satirizing modern western society and specifically the perceived coldness and detachment of city life in Norway.The film starts out incredibly strong and judged by its first two acts, it could have been one of the best films of the year; unfortunately it loses some wind in the last act, and allows the satire to lose its subtlety and become much more prominent than the atmosphere, throwing the viewer right out of the immersion built up during the first half and losing a lot of impact.
All is wonderfully happy and modern but yet something just doesn't seem right.I was recommended this by another IMDb user who I have come to know as quite an intelligent young man and so I decided to go on his advice and give this film a shot.
On the face of it the film comes over like it is a short film, so simple and concise is its idea and so oddly does it deliver a simple concept, but it is a feature and the 90 minutes goes by quickly and satisfyingly.The film is built on the feeling that there must be more to life than the safe warmth that the majority of us in the Western world are used to and it really nails it in this regard.
For the majority of the film we are of course allowed to feel our main character's sense of unease and pain at the lack of passion and spark in life, but this comes in the small moments – the alternative view is not over played to make this more obvious.
Instead the "emotionless norm" is presented in a way that is entirely recognisable; interior design and wall colours are the subjects of discussion, bland office work pays for it all – and trust me that as a man in his mid-30's, this is something I know about!
It does always feel like a short film though because the idea never really comes to a satisfactory conclusion and those looking for a big reveal or ending will be disappointed – however those fans of short films where the "idea" is the thing rather than the answer will be pleased (as I was).
To me the conclusion was fittingly simple because it works well with the idea as this world of the others being a happy place as long as you all go by the rules and don't be an outsider – it also kept me on board that the film made "rebelling" so very reasonable – Andreas was only looking for something a bit deeper, more meaningful than the colour of tiles – and again this is a "rebellion" that many people will be able to relate to as well.The whole film reminded me very much of short films in terms of tone and content but also of some of the rather odd films that the Cohen brothers have made in the last 10 years where the tone is a lot of the story.
I really liked the direction and composition here – the film always looks "normal" but by having everything so very clean and lacking in chaos or untidiness, it does contribute to the overall feeling of this world of being passionless and only "happy" on a very superficial level.
While at times, the films looks as extended episode of The Twilight Zone (even at ninety minutes, the movie seems a bit long), it is quite thought provoking.
As a film alone, it is a scathing comedy on society and attitudes in the post-modern world we live in; a world that judging by The Bothersome Man has reached the regions of Norway and the like.
But along with this black comedy feel to it, it would seem the film delves a little deeper and raises issues, at least to me, of metaphorical religious spaces and our human instinct to want to uncover the truth amongst so much material in our world that perhaps seems alien to us.This was, in truth, a fantastic introduction to contemporary Norwegian cinema for me.
So many times we've seen films that use the set up The Bothersome Man adopts and so many times it's turned into a close to predictable routine revolving around a detective story or a chase story or something along those lines but this film allows its setting and situation to act as a mere backdrop for its protagonist, named Andreas (Fausa Aurvaag), to explore who he is; where he is and what the possible mysteries behind this location really are.The set up I'm talking about involves said hero arriving at a location with no prior memory or what happened before this.
He is scruffy and has a huge beard but soon he will be the opposite, sporting a suit and tie; clean shaven face and a home of his own complete with new job in which the film makes one of the best transforming shifts between the rural and the urban that I've ever seen.
These ideas are best put across in a cinema when Andreas, still a relative newbie to the city, is crying and is clearly affected by a film on show but everyone else watches in stone faced style.
Judging by the closing five minutes of the film and the side-story that opens up involving some music coming from another man's house, it would seem there is a fine line between the spaces the film dictates as 'heaven' and 'hell'.
The 'heaven' is a colourful kitchen with music and children playing: it offers life, hope, emotion and happiness whereas the hell is a snowy nowhere which haunts you thanks to its hopeless build up and eerie cut off point.
It lacked a plot but I think it was better like this, since you realized and sensed the whole strange behavior of everyone, the absurdity and the lack of real sensations in this "happy" world.I think also that the end was brilliant.
Brilliant film about Waking Up. Den Brysomme Mannen is one of the better films of all time and is about a man trapped in a world where there are no senses, no feelings, no Love, no Truth and definitely no Freedom.
This film is a perfect point of view on Hell where people are living in a happiness like cows.
When you see these people in zombie like trances doing everyday events and realize that's what we do and what we want in real life it really hits close to home.
For example there is a scene in the movie where Andreas comes across a man who jumped out of a building and onto a spiked fence.
Lien does a great job with continuity in this movie meaning when a character has a half full cup in his hand and they cut away then come back they have the glass in the same hand and its not full or empty showing that the shot was done another day.
I found some reviewers who said it better than I can; "Bothersome Man is a stark yet strangely lyrical, multi-layered dirge for the absurdity of human fate in the face of figuratively deadening social conformity, and on the other hand, literal mortality."....Prairie Miller,WBAI Web Radio "An absurdly funny dystopian allegory that can proudly hold its own next to Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 and Terry Gilliam's Brazil."....Ken Fox, TV Guide "Made with formidable assurance, a compelling look, quiet skill and impressive economy."....Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune "A few flaws but this is visually captivating and psychologically disturbing."....David Parkinson, Empire Magazine "Good dystopian film about a rare parallel reality, though it is very slow paced."....KyK, audience reviewer.
If you like Kafka you'll love The Bothersome Man. The basics of this movie in my view is to show the worst nightmare of all human societies - where everyone live rich lives, but everyone seem to be like robots without any emotions.
If you don't you'll probably be a bit bored and feel that the movie is blown out of proportion, it's just another dystopia, and basically a world of robots, nothing new about humans need for social interactions nor their constant dissatisfaction with their life (grass is always greener mentality) you'd say.
Mayer once said, talking about his movies: "If I wanted to send a message, I will go to Western Union".I detected an outstanding piece of artwork within this film, that impaled man on the piercing ends of the iron work on that front fence of a private city house, in an early scene.
Until today, I'd never seen a Norwegian film before.Not that it makes a difference, although I can't think of any film, independent or not, coming out of Hollywood or New York closets that resembles the mishmash of "The Bothersome Man." Blame it on the translation, but why is Andreas bothered?
The DVD case for this film talks about the superficiality of the characters who surround Andreas in the purgatory-like city he finds himself in after attempting suicide.What the DVD case doesn't say is that the first five minutes of the film are full of silence and noise, but no dialogue.
The subculture of office life might be heaven for one man, but it looks like hell to us, under the context that "Den Brysomme Mannen" operates on.
When Ingeborg doesn't elicit the same tender feelings for Andreas after his hyper-romantic gesture of leaving Anne Britt for her, this Norwegian film reveals its secrets about the prosaic, but odd city, with an open-endedness that's solvable, and offer up multiple interpretations.Wounded by Ingeborg's apathy towards his avowal of love for her, the bothersome man wanders into the same subway station, stands at the same platform, leers at the same couple aggressively making out, and jumps.
A man, Andreas, arrives in a nameless city where he is immediately given a job in an office and finds a beautiful new girlfriend.
Welcome to the hell of modern consumerism, in which people throw themselves from buildings and no one raises an eyebrow, or spend their days reading furniture catalogues and eating food that tastes of nothing.Andreas quickly realises his predicament and spends the rest of the film trying to escape, in various ways.
Suicide turns out not to be an option, and when he finds a new girlfriend she is just as bereft of feelings as the old one - there is a wonderful scene in a restaurant where he asks her to move in with him and all she can say is, 'I don't mind'.In fact, much of what The Bothersome Man has to say has been said before, and after about 45 minutes you begin to feel that you indeed are experiencing a certain sense of deja vu.
A droll and deliciously wry romp, this movie features a man, Andreas, who gets shipped out to some Purgatory of a Brave New World city, where everyone is happy and bland and food has no taste, nothing smells, and even sex loses its appeal.
Comedy, however, is not a label I would have attached to this film.The brief storyline that appears on the main title page is sufficient for any viewer's needs; nothing for me to add, in that regard.What's more important, I think, is to highlight the symbolism that pervades the entire cinematic experience, beginning with the opening scene of two lovers hugging and kissing at a train station – but making it look like they are trying to consume each other.
Trond Fausa Aurvaag stars as Andreas, a solitary 40 year old man who opens this film by leaping to his death under an oncoming subway train (we hear a gruesome crunch, not the last of these we'll confront).
The film is a great watch very thoughtful.I believe it is a film about how your like would be if you lived in a world created by catalogues.
Bothersome man has just been commercially released here now and i'm glad because I love foreign films from Europe.This movie was unlike anything i've seen before.It was funny at times but very dark and a bit gory.It started out with a shocking opening scene and then started to get confusing but interesting.The scene with the dead man was very surreal and creepy.Nobody seemed to really notice the body or care.
Trond Fausa Aurvaag who plays Andreas Is a very good actor and he had me laughing so hard.His portrayal was intriguing and I loved his facial expressions.It was nice to see Norway,what a beautiful country.It seemed Andreas was stuck somewhere between heaven and hell in that strange city and was meeting all kinds of peculiar people along the way.I'm not sure I understood what was happening in this movie but I guess it's open to one's own interpretation..
Not only is it a masterpiece, it was, to me, such a deeply profound movie that it opened up a whole new way of seeing the world, and reality.I believe most of the events and situations in the film represent abstract symbolic feelings and emotions that can be applied to our normal lives.
It looked as if the movie was just cut at some point, since there was no finale, no conclusion and no twist or anything interesting at the end 3) actually the idea of criticizing the middle class is very old, so the film brings really nothing new, even though it's still entertaining 4) at some places the satire was just too absurd to even be funny, e.g. the scene where the main character stands fully covered in blood and his girlfriend talks about the weekend.