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Hard Asfalt (1986)

Directed by:
Sølve Skagen

COUNTRY
Norway

Genre
Drama

INTERNATIONAL TITLE
Hard Asphalt

RUNNING TIME
109 minutes

Produced by:
John M. Jacobsen

Written by:
Sølve Skagen


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Ida Kristin Kajander
Knut, Idas samboer Frank Krog ½
Åse Marianne Nielsen -
Bønna Morten Faldaas -
May-Britt Liv Heløe -
Idas mor Tone Schwarzott -
Idas far Tom Tellefsen -
Herr Abrahamsen Svein Erik Brodal -
Dagmamma Anne Marit Jacobsen -
Kaspersen Bernhard Ramstad -

 

Review

Big budget social realism by Norwegian standards circa 1986, based on the bestselling 1982 autobiography of the same name. The story is about Ida (Kristin Kajander), a young adult whose foray into drugs leads to a vicious circle of street prostitution and domestic violence. It's like a logical, Oslo based continuation of the life of Christiane F. But it's a humourless lump of a movie which depicts all of the downs without any of the ups. Writer/director Sølve Skagen offers no explanation as to why anyone would be tempted into a life such as Ida's, or what demons may have driven her in the first place, and as such the film largely dodges the problem. Instead, we're left with a perpetual, dreary downward spiral which the film lacks the dramatic potency and subtlety to convey satisfactory. The late Frank Krog is quite effective as the abusive, alcoholic boyfriend. Most of the other supporting characters are badly underdeveloped and thus end up as stereotypes.

Copyright © 03.01.2023 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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