Highlights of the Nordic Film Festival

Barry Healy reports that from Sámi Resistance to Scandinavian Absurdity, there’s lots to see!

The Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival (formerly the Scandinavian Film Festival) is one of the strongest annual showcases of international cinema that comes through town. Bringing together the latest films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, this year’s program once again offers an impressive mix of political drama, psychological insight and eccentric comedy.

The festival is framed by two outstanding films. Opening night at Raine Square on 23 July features Árru, a visually stunning and deeply atmospheric Sámi drama. The story follows an Indigenous community resisting a proposed mining development on their ancestral land. That will resonate strongly with Western Australian audiences.

The festival closes by celebrating the 60th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, the Swedish master’s groundbreaking psychological drama. Persona remains one of world cinema’s defining and influential works and should be on your must-see list.

Swedish cinema receives further attention through Being Bo Widerberg (I Huvudet På Bo), a documentary directed by Widerberg’s son. An uncompromising, left-wing filmmaker, Widerberg pushed actors and audiences as far as he could. Best known internationally for the 1967 classic Elvira Madigan, he rejected convention throughout his career. Unfortunately, while audiences in several other Australian cities will see three of Widerberg’s feature films, Perth misses out on that opportunity. It means that we won’t see Ådalen 31, about a historically significant Swedish strike, Raven’s End, about working class alienation and, of course, Elvira Madigan.

One of the festival’s standout contemporary films is Denmark’s The Last Viking (Den sidste viking). Dubbed as a black comedy crime drama, it is all this and more. Early in the story comes the deceptively simple line, “If everyone is broken, then no one is broken”, a theme that echoes throughout this psychologically profound film.

Fans who remember Mads Mikkelsen from Riders of Justice at the 2021 festival or from his acclaimed Hollywood performances, may be surprised to find him playing brilliantly against type in The Last Viking. He gives a moving performance as the psychologically fragile brother of a violent criminal, portrayed by Nikolaj Lie Kaas. Kaas’s ability to communicate humour, menace and vulnerability while maintaining an almost expressionless face is remarkable.

Balancing psychological drama with gleefully chaotic black comedy, The Last Viking shifts between laughter and tragedy. The abrupt changes in tone can be disorienting, but the film’s sheer absurdity keeps the story moving. Beneath the violence and comic excess lies a touching exploration of family, trauma and society’s willingness – or unwillingness – to accept difference. It is an unconventional film that rewards an audience prepared to embrace its peculiar rhythm.

Finland’s The Kidnapping of a President offers a different brand of absurdity. Inspired by an actual, bungled 1930 coup attempt by Finnish fascists, this blackly comedic drama highlights the dangers of fascism and the fragility of democracy, whilst finding humour in incompetence and brute stupidity. It will connect with audiences alternatively alarmed and amused at the antics of Trump and the rise of One Nation.

Political themes continue in Denmark’s The Last Resort(Paradis), one of the festival’s most thought-provoking entries. Like Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx (2018), it explores the collision between affluent northern Europeans and refugees risking everything to reach Europe. Set in the Canary Islands, the film asks uncomfortable questions about the limits of liberal compassion when confronted by overwhelming human suffering.

A subtle reference to the final “Dance of Death” sequence in Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, reinforces the film’s moral concerns. By its conclusion, viewers are left contemplating a disturbing question: in Fortress Europe, is it easier for a stray animal to find sanctuary than a desperate human being?

The Norwegian film Home (Heim) is a gentle comedy about a high-flying TV presenter whose career comes to a shuddering halt after a cringe-worthy blunder and who, against her will, is compelled to face the ghosts of her past in her small hometown.

A particular Norwegian slang expression referencing the vagina does a lot of heavy lifting in Home. Is this an example of the charming window into another culture that attracts us to these foreign language film festivals?

At Palace and Luna cinemas in Freo and near you opening 24 July.

*By Barry Healy

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