Hawaii, Oslo - Movie Review

Hawaii, Oslo was Norway's submission to the Academy Awards in 2005 for Best Foreign Language Film. The story connects several unrelated people through a common character, Vidar (Trond Espen Seim), whose true nature is somewhat a mystery. The film examines lives affected by the circle of life, whose paths cross at various stages of the film. This review provides a few details of the relationships, so...spoiler alert...

Hawaii, Oslo begins with the ending. Several people are brought together at an accident scene, where a man has been hit by an ambulance. The scene is a dream. It is Vidar's dream. And Vidar wants to change (or tempt) fate. Time rewinds a day or two, and events begin careening forward toward the premonition-inspired ending. Can fate be thwarted? That is Vidar's challenge. The characters include:

Two boys, Mikkel (Benjamin Rosler) and Magne (Ferdinand Falsen-Hiis), whose father recently had a stroke, causing him to fall from a second story window and die. The boys are struggling with their grief. Their mother has not been around since they were born.

The boy's mother, Bobbie (Petronella Barker) has not seen the boys in ten years. Unaware of the death of their father, Bobbie attempts to commit suicide. Her attempt causes her to cross paths with an ambulance driver, who has responded to her address in the past. The ambulance driver is the man from Vidar's dream.

The ambulance driver was transporting Milla (Silje Torp Faeravaag) to the hospital when she had her baby boy en route. Her husband, Frode (Stig Henrik Hoff) goes from elation to desperation when he learns that his newborn son requires an operation that he cannot afford. He crosses paths with Trygve (Askel Hennie) during a bank robbery.

Trygve has managed to get a day pass from his prison, in order to celebrate his brother Leon's (Jan Gunnar Roise) birthday. Leon is in an institution, where his troubles appear to be managed. Vidar is a member of the staff at this facility and is concerned about Leon's welfare. Leon is expecting a friend, Asa (Evy Kasseth Rosten), who hasn't seen for eleven years, to show up for his birthday. Vidar believes she will not show up and that Leon will run away, causing him to be struck by the ambulance. However, it seems that his premonition has somehow gone off track.

Hawaii, Oslo covers a wide variety of topics within the realm of life and death. The story has a variety of characters, infusing surprising depth considering the range and number of characters that the story tracks. At least a dozen characters are given more than just superficial treatment, which is a feat in and of itself. The story weaves in symbolism and the supernatural to add further flavor. While at the far edge of credability, the film does an excellent job of intertwining the characters with enough development to make the broader credibility issues unimportant. The pieces slowly weave together, with slight predictability, forming a cohesive story that was superbly presented.

The cast added to Hawaii, Oslo's success. The interesting, unique and diverse characters were carefully constructed, so it would have been a shame to waste that creativity on an untalented cast. That was not the case. The performances created characters that allowed the story to feel seamless. No single cast member stood out, which was a good thing. All the performances were strong.

Hawaii, Oslo begins with a stutter. If you are not aware of the concept at work, it takes about ten to fifteen minutes to figure out what is happening. However, once the film starts moving forward, the dots are carefully connected, painting the big picture. The idea of interconnected stories is not original. This film may not be the first to try the approach, but it accomplishes the task exceptionally well. The writers managed to capture surprising depth throughout the characters considering the amount of time dedicated to each character in the film. An enjoyable film that I would highly recommend. 8/10.

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