The Bothersome Man

What a little gem. What an audacious film. The Bothersome Man could be taken both as an argument for and an argument against moving to Norway (where it was filmed), depending on your level of interest in interior design.

Positing the theory that heaven is a place of muted emotions, no conflict, beautiful and well-behaved people, no lasting pain, and no extremes, I was staggered to recognise how often these very ideals are striven for within the world, and how, like the embattled protagonist, in an environment as managed as the one in the film, any sane person would be driven to distraction.

In this vision of the celestial afterlife, people with inoffensive tastes and chic clothing glide through life with little interesting them beyond having the perfect end table and sitting down to bland but calorically-meticulous meals with their perfectly-cheekboned, fleshless companions.

Needless to say, this is Heaven writ large as the skewed value system virulently at large in Western civilisation. The film is continually quietly hilarious, save for a few moments of thoroughly jolting gore when it triumphantly crosses over into being raucously, uncomfortably, uproarious.

I recommend it highly. I will say the final ten minutes felt disappointing -as if a great concept for the ending had been poorly executed - but nonetheless, one of the highlights of this year's film festival. Hit up Aro for a copy of it on DVD.