NFI's Jakten/Motforestilling: The Films of Erik Løchen
Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:50 am
A double DVD set introducing (for the first time ever on video?) the two feature films of Erik Løchen (1924-1983) is being released by the Norwegian Film Institute by the end of this month. I got a copy from a contact over there as I promised to spread the word to you guys. It should be available for sale at their website soon.
First of all: Both main features, Jakten/The Hunt and Motforestilling/Remonstrance have ENGLISH and FRENCH subs! Løchen's documentary shorts and a couple of features with/on him that come as bonus have English subs only. The director speaks a little bit of French and German behind camera in the free style film essay Søring nordover (1976).
This is very much an eagerly awaited release in a country where we keep asking ourselves if a great film was been produced. Norwegians envy their Scandinavian neighboors for their great directors.
Erik Løchen, then, has stayed for most ciné buffs an enigma, someone the happy few talk of as the Norwegian Godard, a misunderstood genius who was allowed only to execute two projects before dying at age 59. Jakten was actually show at Cannes at its release, but didn't get much of a reception. A lot of new ideas were coming around all over at the time and Jakten must have been seen as just another "modernist" approach, depending heavily on with Brechtian inspiration.
I won't speculate about wether the high expextations are met or not. Given the 13 years and the immense cultural changes that separate the two films, it's difficult to form a picture of Løchen as a director, as one isn't presented with a continuity like with most other prominent filmmakers.
JAKTEN (1959)
is the charmer of the set. The film tells the story about a married couple and their friend who are all staying in a cabin in the mountains where they are hunting. In one of the opening scenes a narrator introduces the three characters and presents the second man and his friend's wife as lovers. She gets annoyed and shouts to the camera that it is a lie, breaking down the fourth wall.
MOTFORESTILLING (1972)
is a much more demanding viewing experience, and I'm not at all sure that a foreigner will find much to enjoy here. Repeated viewings may change that impression, but there is a certain dryness about the film even though it is not completely devoid of humour (the jokes must be pretty incomprehensible if you're not Norwegian). Making a film about a filmmaker wanting to make a film, Løchen seems to seek to mix the political and the poetical here, but leaving a lot to the viewer. The most interesting thing about the film is probably that the DVD format introduces a possibility that Løchen himself couldn't have foreseen: Not wanting to make a film with a head and tail, he claimed that the five reels could be shown in any given order - i.e. in 118 variations. Here is what the NFI offers the owner of the set:
First of all: Both main features, Jakten/The Hunt and Motforestilling/Remonstrance have ENGLISH and FRENCH subs! Løchen's documentary shorts and a couple of features with/on him that come as bonus have English subs only. The director speaks a little bit of French and German behind camera in the free style film essay Søring nordover (1976).
This is very much an eagerly awaited release in a country where we keep asking ourselves if a great film was been produced. Norwegians envy their Scandinavian neighboors for their great directors.
Erik Løchen, then, has stayed for most ciné buffs an enigma, someone the happy few talk of as the Norwegian Godard, a misunderstood genius who was allowed only to execute two projects before dying at age 59. Jakten was actually show at Cannes at its release, but didn't get much of a reception. A lot of new ideas were coming around all over at the time and Jakten must have been seen as just another "modernist" approach, depending heavily on with Brechtian inspiration.
I won't speculate about wether the high expextations are met or not. Given the 13 years and the immense cultural changes that separate the two films, it's difficult to form a picture of Løchen as a director, as one isn't presented with a continuity like with most other prominent filmmakers.
JAKTEN (1959)
is the charmer of the set. The film tells the story about a married couple and their friend who are all staying in a cabin in the mountains where they are hunting. In one of the opening scenes a narrator introduces the three characters and presents the second man and his friend's wife as lovers. She gets annoyed and shouts to the camera that it is a lie, breaking down the fourth wall.
MOTFORESTILLING (1972)
is a much more demanding viewing experience, and I'm not at all sure that a foreigner will find much to enjoy here. Repeated viewings may change that impression, but there is a certain dryness about the film even though it is not completely devoid of humour (the jokes must be pretty incomprehensible if you're not Norwegian). Making a film about a filmmaker wanting to make a film, Løchen seems to seek to mix the political and the poetical here, but leaving a lot to the viewer. The most interesting thing about the film is probably that the DVD format introduces a possibility that Løchen himself couldn't have foreseen: Not wanting to make a film with a head and tail, he claimed that the five reels could be shown in any given order - i.e. in 118 variations. Here is what the NFI offers the owner of the set: