Cool And Crazy (Heftig og Begeistret)

Focusing on the members of the Berlevåg Male Choir, the film paints a moving and funny portrait of the men, as well as telling everything there is to be said about the harshness of life in Norway’s extreme north. The members of the choir, whose ages range from fairly young to very old, talk freely about their lives, their loves and their dreams for the future. The last are rather bleak, as their incomes have been hit by progressive closures of the fisheries. Still, rehearsals and occasional public performances provide a shelter for the men from the rigors of the real world, and forge a sense of unity. Docu intercuts scenes of the choir singing, often wearing dinner jackets in the middle of some wilderness. Final sequence shows the men singing on the main street of Berlevåg while a blizzard rages, and they’re almost completely covered by ice and snow. It’s a perfect final for a beautiful and extraordinary film. (www. variety.com)