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.