Cinema – “dreams”: just an illusion

“Write more and read more, because that expands the spirit, and that is good for all of us.” Such a statement is not expected in the acceptance speech of a director who has just hired the golden bear at the Berlinale.

In his Norwegian homeland, Dag Johan Hauberud is not only known as a filmmaker, but also as a writer, and in his word -rich trilogy “Oslo Stories”, whose parts crazy within just ten months now come to German cinemas at a distance, he seems to combine both arts. This applies particularly to the second part of the gold -bear -strong second part.

While in all three “Oslo Stories” people are inspired by thoughts from books, the young protagonist Johanne not only grabs it when an erotic novel falls into her hands who puts her in a expectant state – she also becomes an author herself. And the rest of the (mainly female) film staff becomes your reader.

The female relatives fill the reading with their own experiences and marketing plans, but move away from Johannes emotional world.

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When the teenager finds the longed-for object of desire after the stimulating reading in her new French teacher Johanna, he secretly puts on her and sneaks into her life, so as not to say: caught up, this ends in a disappointment that the 17-year-old tries to compensate for in writing down or maybe even dreamed. Her grandmother and mother get permission to read the text one after the other, and the viewer reads what Johanne tells in the voice-over-with recesses in crucial places-from the perspective of the respective recipient.

The camera raves with the pink glasses of a girl in love for the cozy, warm and inviting interior of Johanna’s apartment. The images correspond less to the truth that remains in the dark than the respective subjective interpretation. What the viewer classifies as an atmospheric film music (which generally warned of Miles Davis’ Soundtrack to Louis Malles “Elevator to the Schafott”) stops abruptly at one point because the mother exhibits the turntable. The mood generated was just an illusion, very similar to the one who has succumbed to the fond of both ears.

The grandmother, a professional poet, is packed by the literary force of the narrative and wants to convey the talented granddaughter to her agent. The mother, on the other hand, initially worries about her daughter who may have fallen victim to power abuse, mourns the intense feelings of her own youth and mutates into a proud manager of a child prodigy. The generations come into conversation in this complex and self -reflexive part of the trilogy, starting from Johannes Script and are involved in discussions about feminist attitude and conservative longings, missed opportunities and new perspectives.

This is how Haubereud is doing with literature. “I wanted to write these films because it is exactly these topics with which I rings myself. They are things that I think about that I might read. I read a lot. When you see ‘dreams’, you will find that at least in some cases it is about. ”

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The female relatives fill the reading with their own experiences and marketing plans, but move away from Johannes emotional world. While his protagonist rejects her manuscript in the drawer “queer coming-of-age story”, the gay director has so far hardly been perceived as such because Haubereud breaks with appropriate expectations. As little as it is about homophobia in his films full of queer ideas, racism is an issue just because the teacher, who was admitted by Johanne, is not white.

The intensive dialogues of the young and older staff are reminiscent of the oeuvre Éric Rohmers. However, while he dissects his characters and she is almost painful, Humanist Haubereud puts more empathy and faith in humanity in exchange, but leaves room for humor. Johanne finally manages to differentiate themselves from other interpretations and leave the written behind in order to be free for new experiences.

Last but not least, Haubereud sings a praise to the various art forms with his trilogy. With a embedded performance, “dreams” leads to unexpected heights.

“Oslo Stories: Dreams”, Norway 2024. Direction and book: Dag Johan Hauberud. With: Ella øurye, Selome Emnetu, Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen. 119 min. Cinema release: May 8th.