Mannen som elsket Yngve – The Man Who Loved Yngve (Stian Kristiansen, 2008): Norway

Rewived by Emelie Zahner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2009.

It can’t be easy making a film about homosexuality. The first big hit film that involved homosexuality were Brokeback Mountain and this might not be the same story but they have two things in common, the story takes place in the old days and it is about forbidden love.

This drama film takes place in Norway, in the 80´s in a town called Stavanger. Its about a guy named Jarle Klepp (Rolf Cristian Larsen) and his life. He has a best friend called Helge and they start a band together called “Mathias Rust Band” he has also a girlfriend called Chatrine. So as you can see so far, he has a normal life. But then a new guy called Yngve (Ole Christoffer Ertvång) starts in his class and he finds himself attracted to him. He realizes that he is in love with him and suddenly his life is not so easy anymore. He has to pretend that everything is normal and he has to pretend to his girlfriend and his other friends.

The music they play makes this film even better to see, because they play a lot of old music. They use music from the 80´s and it goes straight into the film in a good way. You can’t help yourself sitting in the theater and sing along inside.

They did a good job mixing the serious subject with joyfulness. This is not an easy thing to make a movie about but they reached out with their message. It felt that the audience got connected with the different characters. I could see my self in many areas of this film so this was a nother good thing about this film, you could connect yourself with diffrent problems that you might have had in your life. The most important message of this film, Love is just love no matter who you might love. You can’t fight your love. I really enjoyed this movie and I think that the scrip and the actors were brilliant. This film feels different from other films in this genre.

This film, for me, stands out because you get to follow his life as he struggles along with his feeling for the other guy in class. And you get see his feelings and thoughts along with the environments to. It is not just focus on Jarle, the guy who falls in love with the other guy. You get to follow his family, friends and other characters to. I can recommend this film for any one looking for a story that involves forbidden love and friendship. It is a sweent and lovely film which makes you happy.