Beatles (Peter Flinth, 2014): Norway

Reviewed by Mina Gilbertsson. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2015.

Beatles is based on the bestselling book by Lars Saabye Christensen and takes place in the 1960’s Oslo, Norway. The 15 year-old’s Kim (Louis Williams), Seb (Håvard Jackwitz), Gunnar (Ola Nicolai Myrvold Jorgensen) and Ola (Halvor Tangen Schultz) are best friends. They do almost everything together – smoking, drinking and stealing. Not to mention, listening to the Beatles.

Louis, Håvard, Ola and Halvor had never acted before the production started, which director Peter Flinth, had to consider before casting them. Mr. Flinth explained that it was important for them to spend time together before shooting to create a genuine bond.

Despite the title, Beatles, the film is not associated with the band more than a couple of featured songs and the main character’s love for the Beatles music. For that specific reason, director Peter Flinth, told the audience during a Q&A that he preferred the alternative title ‘Yesterday’. Mr. Flinth also told the audience that getting the music rights was an ongoing struggle that lasted for one and a half years. They kept negotiating with Paul McCartney’s record label back and fourth to finally make an agreement.

There were several parallels drawn to culture differences between the Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Norway and Denmark. When Kim gets invited over for dinner to his love interest, Cecilie (Susanne Boucher), he struggles to understand Cecilie’s father because he speaks Danish. That was taken from Peter Flinth’s own experience when he got invited to his first girlfriend’s house and he did not understand what the Norwegian father said.

The film is about finding yourself and what you are good at, which is shown repeatedly throught out the film. The essay everyone is writing in the beginning, middle and end is about writing something that had affected their lives. Kim finishes his essay saying: “I found a voice. My own voice.” which describes the film’s storyline.