Cool & Crazy
Screening: 5th April 2004
Norway/Sweden/Finland 2001 (subtitles)
Directed by Knut Erik Jensen
Leading players ~ Documentary featuring The Berlevåg Male Choir.
Synopsis
A hardline Communist, two nonagenarian brothers, a reformed drug addict, a phlegmatic fisherman and an agnostic organist are just a few of the disparate members of The Berlevåg Male Choir united by their love of singing and an unshakeable faith in community and friendship.Following the group over the course of a year, this beautiful, heart-warming documentary combines interviews with the choir’s aging members with alfresco recitals which pit these sturdy men against the Norwegian elements. They’re not just singing in the rain, but with icicles hanging off their noses in the snow.
Yet the camaraderie is threatened while travelling to a concert in the Russian town of Murmansk. The sight of nature polluted by Soviet-style industry brings the communists in the choir into collision with the others, while the giant war memorials move them to tears.
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Hailed as an Arctic Buena Vista Social Club, Jensen’s extraordinary docu-musical pits the warmth of humanity and the power of song against the harshness of life and the rugged but stunning Scandinavian landscape. Now among Norway’s top five most successful films, Cool and Crazy (Heftig og begeistret) has been a festival hit all over the world and made national icons of its aging stars whose resilience and good humour strike a universal chord.
