THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Danish director Lars Von Trier's highly acclaimed film BREAKING THE WAVES explored its protagonist's conflict between her love and her god. Norwegian director Berit Nesheim's THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY covers similar ground, but rather than a newlywed, its heroine is a young teenage girl facing the horrors of puberty. BREAKING THE WAVES is close to the top of just about every critic's best of the year list for 1996, and, although Trier's picture is the better of the two films, I was similarly moved by both.
American movies are obsessed with violent subject matter, and yet, luckily, violence rarely affects most of us personally. On the other hand, while we are a nation where over half attend church, characters in our films never pray. Given all the life threatening situations movie characters encounter, you would expect to see them resort to prayer fairly often, but you do not. This film ignores violence and focuses its attention on faith and love.
THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY is set in a small and strict town in Norway in 1959. Like the rebellious heroine in WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, Maria is a young teen. Maria is beautifully played with charming innocence and curiosity by Marie Theisen. Maria's body is growing rapidly, albeit not fast enough to suit Maria, and her puberty is proving taxing. If she had a single wish, it would probably be bigger breasts. To complicate matters, her father is the local priest, Johannes, played sternly and with precision by Bjoern Sundquist.
As the film opens, Maria is in a church full of sincere, but unhappy looking parishioners. She thinks to herself about her upcoming and long confirmation training, "By the time I get confirmed, I will have sat here 640 hours. On this bench." Later she laments, "Father loves his congregation. We exist so the priest can have a home." And so it is, the priest does love his job more than his family.
Maria prays a lot, not because she has to, but because she believes in God -- her God. Her God is the one of the Book of Solomon whom she points out believed in wine, women, and song. There is a beautiful scene where she lies down in a lush field and recites "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures" This pastoral Lord, who is full of life, is her God. The conflict is that she and her father do not worship the same God.
Arne Borsheim's handsome cinematography is quietly in evidence, especially in the outdoor scenes. The music by Bent Aaserud and Geir Bohren for this gentle film is suitably lovely and moving, and many of the pieces have religious overtones.
Maria even gets into theological arguments with her father on Jesus's need to go to the bathroom -- just like everyone else. This infuriates her father. "Let us pray," Maria chants to herself. "Let us pray. Let us pray and laugh."
Much of the film deals with Maria's exploration of her budding sexuality. Her friend Birgit (Sylvia Salvesen) runs with a looser crowd. They are all good kids, but they hang out together to smoke a little, drink a couple of beers, dance to the forbidden rock and roll music, and, yes, sometimes have sex. Maria wants desperately to be in this group as much as she is frightened by them.
This is a rich film and has all of the truth of life. It is so easy to empathize with Maria's frustrations and temptations. A typical, poignant scene has one of her cotton breasts falls out in front of her friends. This deeply wounds her self-esteem.
Birgit is going through the same traumas. She wants to get confirmed, but make-up is forbidden by her church. "I believe in God," she almost weeps. "I really do. But I want to be pretty too."
A powerful film with simple, heartfelt performances by all. The script by Lasse Glomm, Berit Nesheim, and Reidun Nortvedt is full of lines that are naturally provocative and yet ring totally true. A gem that, sadly, few will probably ever discover. I saw it at the press screening for San Jose's Cinequest film festival. I hope an American distributor picks it up. It deserves the wider audience than it will ever get. America knows what it wants. BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA sells. This sort of cinema does not.
THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY runs 1:43. It is in Norwegian with easy to follow English subtitles. It is not rated, but would get an R. There are nudity, sexual situations, and a few profanities. The film would be fine for teenagers. I recommend this picture to you highly and give it ***. I came close to rating it higher.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 16, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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