Upperdog 2009 | Boys in movies [BiM]

Upperdog (2009)

– Upperdog 2009
– 1h 40 min. | Comedy, Drama | 28 August 2009 (Norway)

Storyline:

As young children, half-siblings Axel and Yanne are adopted to Norway. They are separated on arrival, he to material wealth on Oslo’s west side, she to an average family on the east side. In contrast to her younger brother, Yanne remembers their journey to Norway, but she has no idea where he might be now. All this is about to change, however, as Yanne’s Polish friend Maria starts working as a maid for Axel’s parents, there discovering a photograph of a young boy. Maria has seen the same picture on the wall of Yanne’s flat. She decides to reunite them. But before having time to realize the consequences, she sets in motion a chain of events which throws many people into emotional turmoil.

User review:

I would say that this is one of the best movies ever made in Norway, if not THE best movie. I will lay that on the wonderful acting and casting, the details and subtle direction that makes a real movie with real people. You don’t ever feel like you’re being told what’s happening, because you can feel it. The emotions and the causes of them are played out before your eyes and you know why all the time.

This is not a sad movie, although the people are pretty sad, and it’s not a happy movie. It’s a movie that speaks to your heart. I was sitting in a small movie theatre and the seventeen year old girls sitting in front of me couldn’t be more bored. And I understand why. They couldn’t relate to the people on the screen, who had experienced life, although they were pretty young themselves. But a seventeen year old girl doesn’t know what it’s like to experience real love and loss, or real betrayal. The rest of us couldn’t have been more into the movie. This is what real love looks like. How real people act and react.

I don’t want to front any of the actors, because they were all perfect. The director, Sara Johnsen, is a shining star and she really knows how to work with the actors, that really shows. But the most impressing thing is her careful eye for the story and how to tell it without over telling.

I am truly amazed and I truly loved this movie. See this with someone and you will have much to talk about afterwards.

Director: Sara Johnsen
Writer: Sara Johnsen
Stars: Hermann Sabado, Agnieszka Grochowska, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen
Country of origin: Norway
Languages: Norwegian, English, Polish.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1489263/