Name: Belønningen
Genre: Drama
Released: 1980-08-14
Duration: 1 h 24 min
Rating: 5.5
Cast: Rolf Søder, Joachim Calmeyer, Elsa Lystad

Melodrama about the after-effects of WWII in Oslo

Belønningen deals with the after-effects of WWII in Oslo, contrasting the lives of two former work colleagues who chose different allies during the war: Reidar joining the resistance and Sverre doing work for the Germans. The former has ended up down and out on the street, the latter is a prominent businessman, ostensibly as a result of the profits he made from his war-time contracts. The film is told from a highly socialistic viewpoint, but without bias or simplifications, and this makes it both interesting and valid, despite director Bjørn Lien's amplified lingering over the film's small-scale incidents. What Belønningen cannot conceal, however, is its clumsy craftsmanship and often awkward dramatizations, stemming from the contemporary Norwegian film tradition to which the film belonged. Some of the performances have potency, but the performers (especially those in supporting roles) are either overly theatrical or quite incompetent, and the result is often melodramatic in a film that would have profited from a more pragmatic narrative approach.

*Review written in 2011.

Norwegian cinema is noted for its naturalistic storytelling, rugged landscapes, and introspection. It often explores themes of isolation, existential crisis, and human connection in a quietly intense minimalist style.

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The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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A company director and a tramp bump into each other, resulting in a broken liquor bottle, and a fight starts, then the police get involved. The men are former co-workers going down different roads during World War II and wind up in court.

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Belønningen

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