Bold Norwegian film premieres at Toronto film festival

Norwegian director Eva Sørhaug's 90-minute film about men that kill their women was praised as powerful and bold at Toronto International Film Festival this weekend.

Aksel Hennie stars as a violent sadist in Sørhaug's movie about domestic abuse, which both shocked and impressed the audience in Toronto Saturday night.

"The goal with this movie is definitely to shock the world. 90 minutes is not an attack on the Norwegian man alone, but us humans in general, and why we live our lives the way we do," Sørhaug explains.

The films follows three different couples that all represent the shocking crime statistics.

"I have often wondered what makes a man capable of killing his wife because he struggles financially and goes bankrupt, and why certain men can't handle a break-up where the women are left with the house and the kids," Sørhaug tells Aftenposten.

The director got the idea for the script after reading a series of feature articles published in the newspaper VG about 72 Norwegian women who had been killed by their men between 2000 and 2007.

"One of the articles explained that Norway and Spain were at the very top of the statistics when it comes to domestic homicide, and I wanted to explore this topic on the screen," says Sørhaug.

The film, which was filmed in 20 days and on a budget of NOK 10,2 million, premieres in Norway on September 21.

(Aftenposten)

Julie Ryland