Mona Hoel has written her name into the history of film even by being the only Norwegian director who has taken part in the Dogma95 movement. As we remember, the film-aesthetic manifest consisted of ten commandments on how to make films. In the recent years, the author has also focused on ten commandments, but in terms of the Lutheran catechism. The film presented at PÖFF stems from the sixth commandment, but the author interprets it in an entirely different way. The scripture and life truths collide in a dramatic way.

Emma is married, but does not live with her husband. She has the sole right of custody over the couple’s two little daughters. Having received a fatal diagnosis and the forecast that she only has a few months to live, she must solve the most important thing: her daughters’ future after her death. She has a friend who agrees to take the children in and whom the girls are used to. For this to work, Emma has to obtain the consent of the father of the children, Falk. She travels to the faraway place where he lives, but what happens there leads to Emma finally having to overcome herself: to talk about Falk and to answer questions about why she is not divorced.

A good script, superb actors, an enjoyable perception of rhythm in telling the story, and a remarkable plot-supporting musical design. The issue of domestic violence continues to be topical. With her film, Mona J. Hoel talks about it convincingly.

Mihkel Möölman