Revenge, Hevn (Kjerst Steinsbo, 2015): Norway, Canada

Reviewed by Laurine Lambert. Viewed at the Metropolitan Fiesta 5, Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2017.

Revenge (Hevn), Norway/Canada is one of the best movies at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017. An exquisite thriller as only the Scandinavians can produce. Actress Siren Jorgensen, in her first main role, captivates the emotion of pain, loss and revenge in a superb way.  This was her first lead in a movie. She has been working in many theatre productions. The female director of Revenge is Kjersti Steinsbo. The movie is based on a famous Norwegian book: The doll in the ceiling (Dukken i taket)  The genre is a thriller.

The first scene starts with Rebekka (Siren Jorgensen). She is new in a town in Norway. The first shot is of her with a knife in her hand. The movie is about taking revenge on the man who raped her sister, before her sister committed suicide. It all happened many years ago during a holiday, her sister was very young, and Rebekka still feels very guilty about the suicide of her little sister. The suspense is great because you never know what is going to happen, and that is what makes a great story. The acting is something that surprised me in this movie, because it was great acting by the whole cast (Maria Bock as Nina). Especially the lead actress, her role was really believable and natural even though it was her first role in a movie!

The cinematography was beautiful. It is also one of the best known places in Norway, straight out of the National Geographic! There are lots of outdoor shots in nature and the raw, harsh, enormous beauty of Norway as the film background adds to the emotional thriller.

I really recommend this movie! It is also a great plus that it has been made by a female director, sadly still rare in the film world. Revenge is also based on a book, so that is also interesting to see, the difference between the book and the film. The director Kjersti Steinsbo was at a panel at the SBIFF 2017. I asked the director what was your favorite scene? She answered that the most memorable scene was the scene where they had to fight naked. She told us that scene took them three hours.