JUNK MAIL (BUDBRINGEREN)
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: *** OUT OF ****
Norway, 1997
U.S. Release Date: April 10, 1998 (limited)
Running Length: 1:23
MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Mature themes, violence, profanity,
nudity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Robert Skjaerstad, Andrine Saether, Per Egil Aske,
Eli Anne Linnestad
Director: Pal Sletaune
Producers: Petter Boe, Dag Nordahl
Screenplay: Jonny Halberg, Pal Sletaune
Cinematography: Kjell Vassdal
Music: Joachim Holbek
U.S. Distributor: Lions Gate Releasing
In Norwegian with subtitles
When one thinks of Scandinavian movies, the name of Ingmar Bergman leaps to mind. The great Swedish director's films were almost always austere, beautifully-made, and intellectual (sometimes to a fault). As a result, those whose expectations for JUNK MAIL are based on Bergman, are in for something of a shock. This movie, the product of Norwegian first-time director Pal Sletaune, owes more to David Lynch and Denmark's THE KINGDOM than it does to the work of Bergman, Troell, or any other notable Scandinavian film maker.
Most of the film takes place in the seed, dirty, and dreary backrooms and alleys of Oslo, and the characters are like rejects from Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL. And, although JUNK MAIL threads its way through a series of potentially-serious issues, Sletaune keeps the tone comical (albeit darkly so). In many ways, this is a strange movie; I liked it in spite of the characters, who could charitably be called unpleasant losers, and in spite of the grungy atmosphere, which seems to have soaked into the bones of everyone populating the picture.
JUNK MAIL generated an incredibly strong buzz at last year's Toronto Film Festival (where I had originally planned to see it). It tells the story of the laziest, most inept mailman in the world, a weasel named Roy (Robert Skjaerstad). Roy doesn't take his job very seriously - he opens letters, throws away mail, and does everything possible to invade the privacy of his the men and women he is supposed to serve. Instead of faithfully delivering parcels and envelopes to their rightful destinations (see Kevin Costner's THE POSTMAN if you want this kind of mentality), he dumps about half of his load so he can spend hours loafing. One day, however, his curiosity gets him into a precarious situation. While snooping around the apartment of Line (Andrine Saether), an attractive-but-deaf girl he has fallen for (and who unwisely left a set of keys where Roy could get his hands on them), the mailman becomes involved in a complicated crime that involves robbery and murder. And, although Georg (Per Egil Aske), the main villain, is inept, he is also extremely dangerous, and willing to kill without compunction to obtain the results he desires.
Not surprisingly, the standout performance in JUNK MAIL belongs to Robert Skjaerstad, who manages to make a worm like Roy seem believable. >From time-to-time, we actually find ourselves feeling something close to sympathy for him. Andrine Saether is pleasant as Line. Per Egil Aske plays Georg as a cross between a conscienceless sociopath and a bumbling idiot. He's deadly, but a little too stupid to be truly frightening.
This edgy, entirely original movie succeeds for a couple of reasons: it isn't afraid of breaking the rules (the lead character is a pathetic loser who never finds redemption) and it never overexplains itself to the audience. It's a fresh, quirky picture that will appeal to anyone looking for something that, as MONTY PYTHON put it, is completely different. The only real downside is that the conclusion is a little too open-ended to be fully satisfying. Up to that point, however, JUNK MAIL is an entertainingly offbeat experience. It's unclear whether this will get any kind of widespread U.S. distribution, but it has already become, and will likely continue to be, a film festival favorite.
Copyright 1998 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net
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