Bret Mann What I thought was lacking an introduction, end, and a message, the Norwegian documentary, Cool and Crazy directed by Knut Erik Jensen, was quite different from any Hollywood style documentary I've ever seen. The documentary followed an all male choir based in a small, rural fishing town in Berlevåg, Norway. As the male choir is composed of mainly older men, the majority of the documentary included personal interviews with the various choir members sharing life stories. Expecting an emphasized message of some sort or to be persuaded to act on a certain social problem, I was slightly confused about what the exact purpose and intent of the documentary was. While I felt slightly disconnected from what was happening on screen, I noticed there were outstanding aspects of Norwegian culture portrayed, overly simplistic camera shots and dialogue, and a sense of nostalgia being expressed through many of the men in the choir. One overarching Norwegian aspect that is fundamental to Cool and Crazy is the portrayal of rural vs. urban landscape and the importance of nature and the environment to the Norwegian population. We see the extreme rural setting of Berlevåg during the various songs the entire choir sings throughout the documentary. For example, the first song the audience gets to watch is the choir singing in a barren, tundra setting with choir standing in mostly empty land. Throughout the documentary there are many still shots of solely the land and environment. Along with the emphasized idea of rural versus urban setting, another idea that is present in many Norwegian films is outsiders coming together and forming sense of family. The theme of outsiders in society is extremely apparent in each of the personal interviews because most of the men are living alone in an extremely small town. Many of the singers talk about their past lives with their loved ones, however many of them are now independent. All of them slowly becoming outsiders during their life, but they all discuss how the choir brings them together and forms a support system for one another. One singer says that choir practices are his favorite part of the day. The audience is given a close look at how landscape, nature, and the environment play a part of the Norwegian culture in a rural setting, as well as the role outsiders have in society. In order to emphasize the setting and role of outsiders in the documentary extremely simple camera shots were utilized, as well as no added or pre-written dialogue during the film. The still shots of the landscape and environment that stayed on the screen for longer durations of time allows the viewer to really take in the cold, empty, rural land. I think these still shots were taken to impact the mood of the viewer, creating a sense of simplicity. Along with the continuous still camera shots, there is not added dialogue to the documentary. The only talking that carries the documentary are the interviews of the choir members. This is an interesting choice to centralize all the communication in Cool and Crazy on solely interviews. I thought this style of interaction was slightly boring because the interviews differed so much from each other that there wasn't a central theme or idea for the documentary to build off of. Other then the men all being in the same choir, it was though for me to follow along because there were just so many men sharing parts of their life stories. I had trouble extracting any sort of take home message from the documentary due to the way the filming jumped from interview to interview with no apparent connections. By the end of the documentary, I started trace a sense of nostalgia that was expressed in the various interviews. The nostalgia beamed through when the men from the choir would talk about their past women and how they were so beautiful, how they missed them, and how those were the "good days". During one of the interviews a man commented on how he had tamed down immensely with women compared to back in the day. I think this idea of remembering and reminiscing the past is universally a significant aspect of people's lives, and this is what allows the viewer and the men being interviewed to make a connection. While some interesting stories were shared throughout the interviews in Cool and Crazy, I had high hopes for this Norwegian documentary about the famous all men's choir from Berlevåg, but wasn't quite satisfied with what I watched on screen. Though there were interesting aspects of Norway's culture exhibited and the universal sense of nostalgia presented in the documentary that caught my attention, I think director Knut Erik Jensen could have created a slightly more cohesive, entertaining, and engaging documentary.

Sheldon Way Sometimes it's easy to forget the little things in life. There are so many things to keep us busy and to keep us moving along, with little time to pause for a break. As a college student in the United States, I often am kept very busy and being near a city, it's easy to forget a lot of important things. Obviously the culture in Norway is different, but I feel that the idea still applies. "Cool and Crazy" is a documentary about a group of men in a choir in a small town in Finnmark, in the northern part of Norway. I wasn't the biggest fan of the film, but I tried to understand why it would be a popular film and why others found it important.This town in Finnmark was relatively isolated and untouched by some aspects of urban culture. It seemed to be mainly inhabited by elderly couples or single people. The choir is obviously a very important part of the community, and the documentary focused mainly on the choir. It was very different to the documentaries that I'm accustomed to seeing though. Everything was filmed with a hand-held camera on location. There were no interviews in studios or computer-generated sequences. I felt like this made it so much more real than what I'm used to seeing. The singing scenes were set up, but it seemed as though everything else was filmed as it was. They interviewed the men in their own homes, so the men continued to go about their daily life and talk to the camera about whatever they wished.The film captured a number of aspects of life that seem to be often overlooked, but that are a part of daily life nevertheless. Personally, I don't see why it was necessary to film an elderly man in his bath tub or to go look in a man's closet, but it's true that those are parts of daily life. Everything seems much simpler in the film and life seems so much simpler. It seems that the men that were filmed had the time to do what they wanted and weren't pressured by society like so many people are today. They made sure to appreciate the little things in life.The fact that the entire film was about older men was very different, because most films aren't about the elderly. It gave the viewer a different perspective. We are able to see more about their lives and what it's like living in an isolated town in northern Norway. It has a sort of mystical feel to it, the fact that it's so far removed from anything else. It seems as though it could also be a bit nerve-wracking, being in a tiny fishing village in northern Norway where it can obviously get extremely cold. To me, it doesn't seem like the most "comfortable" place to live, but everybody in the film seems extremely happy with where they are. It could very well be something that is just difficult for some people to understand if they've never experienced it.As a native English speaker with only some knowledge of Norwegian, I found it difficult to understand a lot of what was going on, and I feel that a large part of what they were saying may have been lost in translation. A lot of what happened didn't make sense to me, which could be why I didn't like it very much. There didn't seem to be any sort of storyline at all, other than that the choir was going to go to Murmansk. Most documentaries seem to have an educational goal or idea, whereas "Cool and Crazy", as far as I could tell, was extremely random and followed no storyline. To be blunt, it was simply a mix of stories and interviews from a group of men who sing in a choir together and then get on a bus to go sing in Murmansk."Cool and Crazy" does a good job at portraying the normal, daily lives of the men in the choir and showing how some of the little things in life can be important too. That being said, it is certainly not a very gripping film. It really does show the daily lives of a number of men, and from my point of view, these men don't have extremely exciting lives. It's not something I would enjoy watching for an extended period of time. While it may be interesting to some people and have important cultural value to some people, I did not find it entertaining, gripping, or educational.

gretemiller Who doesn't like a movie that exposes the exotic lives of those living in northern Norway? Cool and Crazy delves into the culture of the folk from Finnmark in northern Scandinavia. The film follows the journey and history of the men in a church Choir in Finnmark. They are witty and very blunt. The men are lighthearted about life, love, and singing. This film is interesting in many aspects, but specifically the characters, filming techniques and the organization of the film.The film starts out with the choir and then proceeds to enter the first interview. The character is an old man, like most of the men in the movie, and he talks about his love life and women. Next, he talks about his history with the choir. This is a common theme with the interviews that were documented in this film. In between the interviews were performances by the choir in outdoor, often remote, areas. They sang on the coast in all sorts of weather from blowing wind and ice in the dead of winter to the warm glow of the midnight sun peaking over the ocean. The songs they sang were mainly about life and seemed to match the seasons. For example, they sang of hardship and the longing for spring during the dark winder months, while they rejoiced for the renewal that spring brought for the land and their own spirits. This film also followed the choir to a concert they had in Mermansk, Russia. They mostly bantered about politics and how the land was in such bad shape during the bus-ride. They were appalled and disgusted at the destruction Russia had afflicted to the environment. This film shows how content these men are with the lives they live in Finnmark. Although it is a remote location and the weather is harsh, they still see a reason to stay. Their dedication to their homeland shows how much home means to them. They take pride in the fact that they are from Finnmark.There are many characters in this movie. Of the men that were interviewed, a few stuck out to me. Firstly was the primary interviewee. His wife (even though they were never officially married, they lived together for 40 years) was dead, he had lived in Finnmark his whole life, and he had been singing in the choir for 60+ years. So, let's first address the culture differences. People in Norway aren't necessarily in a huge hurry to go to the alter. It is very normal for them to live together and even have kids together without being married. For some reason, it seemed like there were many widowed men in this chorus. Do men live longer in Norway than women? In the US, I have observed more widows than widowers. This is strictly a personal observation, but I thought it interesting. The second subject that stuck out to me was the younger man with two kids. He was the odd one out. He really exhibited a strong camaraderie with the older folk in the choir. And lastly, I took a special interest in the 90-year old man who still drove a car in the snow. He was so classic and traditional. It seemed like he had a routine for everything. This choir spanned across multiple generations and the film explored that.This documentary is very raw and basic because of the home-video quality of the interviews. Some newer documentaries are still very "Hollywood" and use all sorts of filters. This film doesn't, and it shows. The camera was hand-held, there was little artificial light(except shooting the choir singing at night), it was not staged, and all of the filming was shot in a very natural setting, which reminds me of the Dogma 95 movement. Bottom line, this movie was as real-life as you can get. The setting was held in multiple seasons, which captured the isolated frozenness of the arctic winter and the crisp summers under the arctic sun. Working in shots of the midnight sun during the summer season also very realistically portrayed the contrast.The organization of this film was very confusing. I wonder if there is even a plot to this film. I think it was challenging to catch a lot of the significance of this movie by watching it with subtitles. I understand the interview-song-interview-song pattern, but I was many times lost as to the significance of the movie as a whole. It did not keep my attention and I didn't find it very funny. I think that they did the best they could with this movie and I think the structure is very creative, the songs were too long to focus on for long, and the interviews were dragging and somewhat boring. I think the subject is a tough one to make into a super entertaining and engaging film.Honestly, I thought the fact that the 90-year old man was still driving in the winter and the younger man's story the most engaging parts of the film. Cool and Crazy is not for everyone and was not for me. Unless you are into desolate places and old men, you might not appreciate this film. Although, seeing the village and landscape of Finnmark through such a realistic lens is fascinating. That fascination is dulled, however, as the film progresses and that landscape is all you see. Although Cool and Crazy is very slow moving and may not appeal to some, what you see is what you get. The title of this film captures the climate and overall dull feel of the film, while exposing the craziness of the men's characters. Although I would not recommend this film nor enjoyed watching it, there were some interesting aspects achieved.

nils_p It is unfortunate to hear that the English translation led to a "farce" portrayal of these creative and passionate men. I saw the film while living in northern Sweden (Kiruna), so the Swedish subtitles were perhaps a little less shadowed with an unfortunate UK comedy interpretation.Understandably, there is a light heartedness to the film, but for me it paints a wonderfully soft and vulnerable side of these men that live and work in a land that is far from either. The "close and personal" time spent in their bathrooms, kitchen, and so on - although very out of place in north American culture - is simply a glimpse of the heart of most Scandinavians; be it from Stockholm or from Berlevåg. A comfortable sense of being and appreciation for creature comforts and enjoyed time - the kettle, coffee, preparing dinners, soaking in a bath, enjoying a cigarette... this couldn't be better shown than the bold image of big, hardy, bearded Norwegian enjoying a bubble bath.Striking and possibly troubling image in north America, but completely understood in Scandinavia."why was this movie made". Well, here is my attempt to maybe give reason... as with any documentary following a group of people through their daily life - be it in Tibet, the outback or a tiny tribe in the Amazon - there rarely is a beginning, end, loss, gain or message delivered on a frying pan. This is simply a portrait of a group of men that amidst their hardships, lost loves, sacrifices, have found something amongst them that truly gives them reason. And that is probably enough reason for the film right there.From softly sad stories of lost relationships and long faces, they transform the second they come together for their rehearsal; grinning from ear to ear, cheeks rising in to the squint of smiling eyes and a boyish excitement that moves over everyone.In a land where men are demanded upon by their environment to live the harsh life that is expected of them, here is a group that lets its guard down, opens itself to heartfelt passion and creativity, and the enjoyment of shared times with close friends. Refreshing.Fantastic film, beautiful contrasts and wonderfully Norwegian!