Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Trinidad & Tobago
2011/35mm/105mins — AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 8.30 PM – BUY!
MONDAY 31 OCTOBER 2.00 PM – BUY!
This powerful drama is about an expatriate woman searching for meaning on a Carribean island in the 1970s.
Sonia has stayed back home with her young son and daughter to take care of her ageing mother while her husband Jo has taken a new job in the oil fields of Trinidad. When she finally moves the family to join him, she finds the adjustment to expatriate life strangely difficult. Stuck in a kind of limbo where she has no apparent role, she befriends experienced expat Charlotte who has some difficult insights into the lifestyle. A powerful drama with an emphasis on performances, this award-winning film is set against the stunning backdrop of life in the Carribean in the 1970’s.
Q&A and introduction by Bryan Brown at Friday 28 October 8.30 PM screening only.
Screenings at Thessaloniki, Goteborg and Montreal Film festivals
5 Norwegian Film Awards, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography; Best Director – Montreal Film Festival.
“well acted with clean and meticulous wide-screen camera work for the benefit of the Carribean landscape” Dan Fainaru, ScreenDaily
“a richly dramatic character study by Lena Endre that would have been worthy of inclusion in a Bergman film” Terry Keefe, The Hollywood Interview
Writer/Director Maria Sodahl Producers Petter J. Borgli, Gudny Hummelvoll
Cast Bryan Brown, Lena Endre, Line Verndal Print Source Norwegian Film Institute
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Limbo was a little slow going at times. A little long winded. But hang on as the ride slowly gathers speed. It gets a 4 from me. I liked the photography, the music, but found the plot developed very slowly. Think of heavy freight train moving away from the terminal. Slow, monotonous, uninteresting. As the train gathers speed and takes the unexpected side track the journey becomes more interesting. There were a few sub plots that were linked quite well. Sonia is a pretty gutless woman who is married to a shit. I found her character annoying in her moodiness and her resistance to change her situation. She occasionally took a stand but subsequently backed down. She was submissive with her domineering husband. His character presented as a loving, caring husband but was two-faced. We make decisions every day in our lives that may seem insignificant but those decisions can have a greater impact on others. It’s that freight train analogy; the switching of the train from one line to another can lead to consequences that you can’t back away from. A minor transgression by one can have a long lasting effect on others. Sometimes you can’t go back. The exchanges and experiences the film portrayed can of course be compared to our own lives. And that can be interesting. To relate to the characters. Though, despite that I’m not sure the film’s conclusion was true. Though, their actions are understandable, there are better ways of resolving problems than the decisions the two women made. Despite there being a reasonable amount of English spoken in the film, as well as other languages, sub titles are present throughout. It seemed bizarre having English sub titles when the dialogue was in English. Maybe I’m splitting hairs.