O’Horten (2007)

Directed by: Bent Hamer | 90 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Baard Owe, Espen Skjønberg, Ghita Nørby, Henny Moan, Bjørn Floberg, Kai Remlow, Per Jansen, Bjarte Hjelmeland, Tone Stern Bergersen, Peter Bredal, Einar Breian, Dag Brekke, Bård Brinchmann, Andreas Cappelen, Kjell Ove Carlsen, Dahle, Øyvind Dvergsdal, Gard B. Eidsvold, Nils Gaup, Anton Lohne Hamer, Peder Anders Lohne Hamer, Jørn Hansen, Elin Hamnes Holm, Trond Hultgren, Lina Jagels, Bjørn Jenseg, Kari Loland, Nils Petter Mørland, Kjell Arvid Odden Øines, Lars Øyno, ​​Claus Plapp, Lasse Ramstad, Morten Rudå, Anette Sagen, Paal Schøyen, Kristine Rui Slettebakken, Thorolv Stangnes, Elisabeth Stavenes, Fredrik Steen, Ronald Stiansen, Karl Sundby, Trond-Viggo Torgersen, Terje Alsvik Walløe, Lena Wermelin

Norwegian director/screenwriter Bent Hamer has already spoiled us with ‘Kitchen Stories’ and his penultimate film, the film adaptation of Charles Bukowski’s short story ‘Factotum’. The idea for ‘O’ Horten’ again comes from the talented filmmaker himself. The O stands for Odd, the first name of the 67-year-old train driver, who looks forward to his approaching retirement with appropriate reluctance. The fact that he is also honored, he gets a hideous silver statue of a steam locomotive, does not make him any happier, O’ Horten prefers to hide in the shadow of his noisier colleagues. Modest as he is, he even keeps aloof when they do a real train quiz, with sound clips. Hilarious!

O’ Horten lives alone, a parakeet his only company. On the evening before his last train ride, something unexpected happens: it is the starting signal for a series of special encounters and events. The train driver, who, like many other people who have ended up in a rut, but actually have no problems with it, because the well-defined daily schedule like a timetable offers safety and security, has to let go of his grip on his life if he wants to and thanks is gaining momentum. That speed is not too bad, although it must feel that way for the sympathetic O’ Horten.

Hamer takes ample time to show the audience the environment and circumstances in which his protagonist finds himself. As a result, the film is sometimes a bit slow, but then there is another absurd event that surprises the viewer. The cook at the restaurant where O’ Horten likes to eat is arrested by a couple of police officers; he is suspected of illegal trade while only looking for an acquaintance at the airport; sudden sleet creates surreal, highly amusing scenes…

These are funny anecdotes that give the film a typical Scandinavian flavor. The score that accompanies the superb cinematography of John Christian Rosenlund is excellently done by John Erik Kaada. The images of the train speeding through the snowy landscape are unparalleled. The level of the first beautiful scenes, in which the viewer can see through O’ Horten’s eyes while practicing his profession, is continuously maintained.

The acting is superb; with Bård Owe appearing in almost every scene in the title role, at the top: he makes you forget that you are watching a movie. The point of criticism is that it’s all a bit non-committal: many of the things that happen to O’ Horten don’t seem to affect him. But that’s just an illusion: it all contributes to a careful build-up to a hopeful ending, which is not a real one, but a satisfying one. Hamer has succeeded in delivering a fine, warm and wonderfully subtle humorous film, which is not to be missed for fans of Scandinavian tragicomedies.