Norwegian movies: Ranked in order of preference
Please note that this list is not limited to my "top picks". It is rather every Norwegian film I've seen, descending from my favorite Norwegian movie ever.
I like to think that I am at least a tad selective in which movies I bother watching, but there might still be some pretty bad ones-or at least a couple of mediocre ones-in the bottom portion of this list that I really do not recommend all that highly.
I like to think that I am at least a tad selective in which movies I bother watching, but there might still be some pretty bad ones-or at least a couple of mediocre ones-in the bottom portion of this list that I really do not recommend all that highly.
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- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsAnders Danielsen LieHans Olav BrennerIngrid OlavaOne day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
- DirectorOle GiæverMarte VoldStarsOle GiæverMarte Magnusdotter SolemSivert Giæver SolemA journey inside Martin's head. He's on a weekend mountain trip, and we get to know his thoughts. Unsensored, essential, existential and silly about feelings and fantasies. A recognizable film about being human, and how we tick and think.
- DirectorJoachim TrierStarsAnders Danielsen LieEspen Klouman HøinerViktoria WingeFueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsPer Christian EllefsenSven NordinMarit Pia JacobsenWhen his mother, who has sheltered him his entire 40 years, dies, sensitive would-be poet Elling is sent to live in a state institution. There he meets Kjell Bjarne, a gentle giant and woman-obsessed virgin in his 40s. After two years, the men are released and provided with a state-funded apartment and stipend with the hope they will be able to live on their own. Initially, the simple act of going around the corner for groceries is a challenge. Through a friendship born of desperate dependence, the skittish Elling and the boisterous, would-be ladies' man Kjell Bjarne discover that not only can they survive on the outside--they can thrive. But as their courage grows, they find oddball ways to cope with society and strike up friendships in the unlikeliest places.
- DirectorIvo CaprinoStarsWenche FossPer Theodor HaugenHarald Heide-Steen Jr.Reodor Felgen decides that he will enter a car race to defeat his former friend who has stolen his plans for a car.
- DirectorAksel HennieJohn Andreas AndersenStarsAksel HennieNicolai Cleve BrochBjørn FlobergUno is a story from inner-city Oslo about David, a twentyfive-year-old with few prospects for the future. His days are spent hanging around with petty criminals at an inner-city gym. Still, it's better than home: His father is terminally ill, his brother is mentally handicapped, and he's unable to connect with his mother.But then, as his father is on his deathbed, the gym is raided by the police. David chooses to betray his friends in the hope of reaching his father for a last farewell. But it's too late. With his father dead and his mother grief-stricken, he's also forced to take responsibility for his brother on top of fighting off his former underworld friends. The crisis makes David realize what's truly important in his life: his family. He starts assuming responsibility for both his past and his future. By losing everything, David is given a chance to start over from scratch and rebuild his life.
- DirectorAnders ØstergaardStarsGeorge W. BushJoshua Min HtutKo MuangUsing smuggled footage, this documentary tells the story of the 2007 protests in Burma by thousands of monks.
- DirectorErik GustavsonStarsAnders Danielsen LieFrank RobertElisabeth Sand"Herman", based on Lars Saabye Christensen's novel of the same name, tells the story of the young boy Herman who suddenly loses his hair and becomes bald at the age of eleven. Movie follows him through what is a very difficult period in his life, through big mood swings and irrational behaviour until he finally learns to accept himself for who he is.
- DirectorJens LienStarsTrond FausaPetronella BarkerPer SchaanningIn a strange city where every person seems content beyond reason a new man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by asking too many questions.
- DirectorPål SletauneStarsRobert SkjærstadAndrine SætherPer Egil AskeA lazy postman puts his nose where it doesn't belong.
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsAksel HennieSynnøve Macody LundNikolaj Coster-WaldauAn accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
- DirectorErik PoppeStarsPål Sverre HagenTrine DyrholmEllen Dorrit PetersenA man convicted in his teens for killing a child is released on parole. He struggles to build a new life, but his past is uncovered.
- DirectorNils GaupStarsMikkel GaupIngvald GuttormNils UtsiA young Sámi man witnesses a band of vicious raiders slay his family and flees to a nearby village, where he learns he must become a Pathfinder.
- DirectorErik PoppeStarsTrond Espen SeimJan Gunnar RøiseEvy Kasseth Røsten"Hawaii, Oslo" is the story of a handful of people who cross one another's paths without necessarily knowing one another, during the hottest day of the year in Oslo. Frode and Milla are having their first child, whom they are told will not live long. Bobbie-Pop, a faded singer, tries to commit suicide. Leon, an institutionalized kleptomaniac, is waiting for the arrival of Åsa, with whom he has a 10-year deal to get married. Leon's brother Trygve fetches Leon from the institution to celebrate his birthday, but Tryge actually plans to use this leave from prison to run away. And the angel Vidar, Leon's best buddy at the institution, sees things no one else can see and just might be able to save everyone.
- DirectorKari Anne MoeStarsHenrik WangbergSana El MorabitJohanne Butenschøn LindheimA documentary about youth politicians changes radically when a terrorist commits Utøya-massacre of 69 party kids while filming.
- DirectorJoachim RønningEspen SandbergStarsAksel HennieAgnes KittelsenNicolai Cleve BrochThe true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II and his battle to overcome his inner demons.
- DirectorHans Petter MolandStarsStellan SkarsgårdBjørn FlobergJorunn KjellsbyUlrik's released from prison after 12 years for murder. Will he go straight? He gets a room and a job as mechanic. He hooks up with his old gang. His son introduces him as uncle to his pregnant fiancée.
- DirectorMargreth OlinStarsAhmadAnne-LiseCristinThe movie follows students at Hauketo Continuation School the last months before the exams.
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsOtto JespersenRobert StoltenbergKnut NærumA group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.
- DirectorBent HamerStarsBaard OweEspen SkjønbergGhita NørbyA drama focused on a life-changing moment in 67-year-old train engineer Odd Horten's existence: the evening of his retirement.
- DirectorErik Smith MeyerStarsKingsford SiayorEirik Junge EliassenBjörn GranathAnna lives with her father Karl someplace in the outskirts of northern Norway. Karl killed his ex-wife and threw her newborn colored child into the sea when he discovered that she obviously had been unfaithful. Now Karl is being haunted by her ghost and is developing a serious drinking problem. Anna is looking for the love of her life, but there aren't many bachelors around - until they discovers another small family on the other side of the mountain. They meet a semi-alcoholized widow on Karl's age, her son Peder, and her black adopted son, Ante, that arrived from the sea on a piece of wood.
- DirectorJoachim RønningEspen SandbergStarsPål Sverre HagenAnders BaasmoGustaf SkarsgårdIn 1947, with five loyal friends in tow, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sails a fragile balsa wood raft along an ancient path some 4,300 miles across the Pacific.
- DirectorBård BreienStarsFridtjov SåheimKirsti Eline TorhaugHenrik MestadThe local disability support group visits an involuntary member, not realizing that it will bring them to a critical mass.
- DirectorMarius HolstStarsMartin Dahl GarfalkTrond HalboJan Devo KornstadThe young teenager Otto is entering the summer holidays in 60s Oslo, without getting a real holiday, and he is not accepted in the gang or the football team. But then he meets exciting mysterious Frank, which changes everything.
- DirectorPål ØieStarsBjørn FlobergKristoffer JonerEva Röse5 Norwegians head for a cabin in the wilderness for a few days of team building. But strange things start happening--especially down by the water where they find an abandoned tent. Is someone else around?
- DirectorUlrik Imtiaz RolfsenStarsEmil MarwaKhawar Gomi SadiqAssad SiddiqueIzzat (honor), the concept of honor in North India and Pakistan.
- DirectorPål JackmanStarsMads OusdalHildegun RiiseIngjerd EgebergDaniel Jul is a 28-year-old psychiatrist still living with his mom. He and his friend Ronny have one thing in common: they like searching for metallic objects in the ground. One day they find a jewel with the name "Janne" imprinted. This is the beginning of something big for Daniel. His life will never be the same. He's about to discover a lot of hidden secrets about himself and others.
- DirectorOle BornedalTony SpataroStarsMaria BonnevieGérard DepardieuChristopher EcclestonDina grows up in a village at a fjord in 1860s north Norway. As child, she accidentally kills her mom and loses her rich dad's love. She grows up to be a clever, pretty, wild, and strange woman. She marries a rich Frenchman.
- DirectorSara JohnsenStarsHermann SabadoAgnieszka GrochowskaMads Sjøgård PettersenAs young children, half-siblings Axel and Yanne are adopted to Norway. They are separated on arrival, he to material wealth on Oslo's west side, she to an average family on the east side. In contrast to her younger brother, Yanne remembers their journey to Norway, but she has no idea where he might be now. All this is about to change, however, as Yanne's Polish friend Maria starts working as a maid for Axel's parents, there discovering a photograph of a young boy. Maria has seen the same picture on the wall of Yanne's flat. She decides to reunite them. But before having time to realize the consequences, she sets in motion a chain of events which throws many people into emotional turmoil.
- DirectorRoar UthaugStarsIngrid Bolsø BerdalRolf Kristian LarsenTomas Alf Larsen5 young Norwegians head up to the mountains to snowboard. One breaks his leg and it's getting dark soon, so they spend the night in a big, abandoned hotel, closed 30 years ago. They are not alone.
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsTrond FausaMarian Saastad OttesenPeter StormareA woman moves into a young man's home and starts to run his life -- a process that makes him fall hopelessly in love with her.
- DirectorNils GaupStarsStian SmestadGabriel ByrneLouisa Milwood-HaighA young Norwegian boy in 1850s England goes to work as a cabin boy and discovers some of his shipmates are actually pirates.
- DirectorEva IsaksenStarsPer Christian EllefsenGrete NordråHelge ReissIn this prequel to Elling (2001), Elling, a slightly autistic, but opinionated young man, lives with his aging mother who is worried what he'll do without her. She decides to take him on a trip to Spain to see new things.
- DirectorToralf SandøStarsLeif JusterErnst DiesenJoachim Holst-JensenThe detectives Gløgg and Rask is put on the task of finding out what has happened to the lost sausage maker H. Brand. They find him after a lot of trouble.
- DirectorBo HermanssonStarsRolv WesenlundAud SchønemannFinn MehlumFleksnes has a good life, but misses the woman in his life. His mother is helpful, and has several solutions to the problem to prevent him from being the last Fleksnes. Charm school must be a solution.
- DirectorBerit NesheimStarsMarie TheisenHildegun RiiseBjørn SundquistThe Other Side of Sunday criticizes the small, and often tight church community. We follow the Preachers Daughter; Maria, in her journey to liberate herself from the stiff church community and her strict religious father.
- DirectorEva IsaksenStarsHåvard BakkeTommy KarlsenHelle Beck FigenschowA young boy named Pelle falls in love with the drug addict Lena. Then he and his friend Proffen tries to save her from the drugs.
- DirectorOla SolumStarsHanne KroghKnut RisanBente BørsumA small princess in a small kingdom in Adventureland disappears on Christmas eve. She has gone out to find the Christmas Star. The Queen follows and the King curses the Christmas Star, so it disappears for years, until young Sonja arrives.
- DirectorTancred IbsenStarsAlfred MaurstadVibeke FalkJoachim Holst-JensenIn the poor Norway in the early 1800s Gjest Baardsen starts off like a Robin Hood, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor. Based on the real character which became the poor mans hero, and got lots of help to get away from the law.
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsPer Christian EllefsenSven NordinMarian Saastad OttesenThree years have passed since Elling moved to town with Kjell Bjarne, his roommate from the institution at Brøynes. Elling now lives on his own in the apartment. Kjell Bjarne has moved up one floor, to Reidun and her little daughter Mojo. Feeling like an outsider, Elling isolates himself more and more. He observes humanity with astonishment and wonders at how everyone else seems to be adjusting so well. Finally, Kjell Bjarne takes care of the situation. Elling protests, but he is still pretty happy as he is transformed into a new man: clean, fully rested, and well-dressed. Deep inside, he also knows what's lacking, and one evening he finally finds the woman he knows is able to fill the void in his life. He's willing to do anything to win her trust and love. But when he is invited to his new girlfriend's for dinner, a few objections appear to Elling, and the story doesn't end quite the way he had thought it would.
- DirectorTancred IbsenStarsHenki KolstadWenche FossLars NordrumHjalmar and Gina Ekdal lives together with their daughter Hedvig, who attends to a shot wounded wild ducking, while slowly growing blind. Based upon director Tancred Ibsen's grand father Henrik Ibsen's stage play The Wild Duck.
- DirectorEdith CarlmarStarsLeif JusterUnni BernhoftFrank RobertAt a high mountain hotel in Norway the porter Poppe tries to do the best he can for the guests with an often unhelpful piccolo Rudolf. This, however, leads to a lot of problems, and Poppe thinks some of the guests behave inappropriate.
- DirectorKnut BohwimStarsArve OpsahlCarsten ByhringSverre HolmEgon Olsen has been behind bars for some time, but that hasn't stopped the criminal mastermind from making a plan to steal a very valuable golden statue and to never land behind bars again. So as soon as he gets out of prison, the first thing he does is contact his old associates, and together they prepare for one of the most daring, and hilarious, robberies Norway has ever seen.
- DirectorBerit NesheimStarsMaria KvalheimEllen HornHelge JordalFrida, aged 13, has discovered a book by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm called "The art of loving". Using it as a reference she sets out to better the love lives of her family and friends. But love works in mysterious ways...
- DirectorLeif SindingStarsHenny SkjønbergEinar VaageHans BilleUnder julefeiringen hos sorenskriver Bals blir det hemmelig forlovelse mellom to av hans vakre døtre og to studenter på julebesøk. Husdragen, tante Pose, spionerer på de unge. Tante Pose vil også gjerne bli gift, og kaster seg over den blyge sakfører Plum. Han redder seg i siste liten, og så blir det rett fra for de unge.
- DirectorChristopher NielsenStarsWoody HarrelsonSimon PeggPhil DanielsFour stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters, and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant.
- DirectorOla SolumStarsJack FjeldstadMaria BonnevieTobias HoeslAfter his father is killed, King Valemon ascends the throne, only to be turned into a polar bear by a bitter witch who wants to be his queen. Valemon must find a bride in the seven year span that he'll be a polar bear, and so he travels to Winterland and finds a wife to take home. Although they are happy, she is not allowed to look upon his face when he turns back into a man at night. When she breaks this rule, Valemon will be trapped to the witch forever.
- DirectorNils-Reinhardt ChristensenStarsRolf Kirkvaag Jr.Gisle StraumeArne LieStompa starts a new school, Langåsen in Stakavik where he meets his new friends Bodo, Bergen, Nottero and Sorlandet, and finds tangled up in troubles with a spider, a fire drill and a swimming contest leading to detention.
- DirectorGrete S. HynnekleivStarsVeronika Flåt TjelleDennis StorhøiAgnete G. HaalandOrphan Kamilla moves in with her rich uncle who lives in Kristiansand, Norway in the early 1900, Norway. Her uncles wife however does not approve of Kamilla and want to send her to a boarding school in Denmark. Her uncle instead decide to send her to his sister who lives in the countryside. On her way there she meet Sebastian who is a good hearted thief, who want to turn his life around.
- DirectorAune SandStarsBeate HalkjelsvikEinar LundBeate Charlotte LundeTwo young people stand on a street corner in a run-down part of New York, kissing. Despite the lawlessness of the district they are left unmolested. A short distance away walk Maria and Andreas. They are on their first date. In an episodic style the film tells of encounters and love among young people. The stories are set in Cairo, Paris, on the coast of Normandy and in New York.
- DirectorMarius HolstStarsBenjamin HelstadTrond NilssenStellan SkarsgårdNorwegian winter, early 20th century. On the boys home Bastoy, a new inmate leads the boys to a violent uprising against a brutal regime. How far is he willing to go to attain freedom?