O’ Horten

Time Out says
After attending a party at which his colleagues see him off by pretending to be steam engines and playing a game of ‘guess the platform announcement’, Horten settles into retirement by embarking on a mini-odyssey. He goes for a nighttime swim, sells his cherished boat, meets an intriguing stranger whose house, full of bric-à-brac, betrays a life spent working as a foreign diplomat. All the while, Horten remains a quizzical onlooker, interested but removed, engaged but almost speechless. His journey into a new stage of life is reflected in everything and everyone around him.
You may remember director Bent Hamer from his 2004 film, ‘Kitchen Stories’, and this tightly focused fable – essentially a road movie in one city – displays a similar eccentric touch, sly humour and quiet approach to male emotions. The lack of dialogue and careful tableaux (dark with splashes of colour, superbly lit) recall Aki Kaurismäki, while the flashes of daft, visual humour (a motorcyclist sliding down a hill moments after a warning of freezing rain) are worthy of Roy Andersson. Thoughtful, funny, slightly sad and superbly crafted.
Release Details
- Rated:12A
- Release date:Friday 8 May 2009
- Duration:90 mins
Cast and crew
- Director:Bent Hamer
- Screenwriter:Bent Hamer
- Cast:
- Bård Owe
- Espen Skjønberg
- Ghita Nørby
- Baard Owe
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