Gymnaslærer Pedersen (2006) User Reviews

Blind love makes Pedersen the last standing communist

[LeMort · 7/10 · 28 February 2006]

A bit hard to review this one. As a reaction to USAs involvement in Vietnam, growing capitalism and a rather naive belief in "Power to the people", the Norwegian party AKP-ML was started in 1972. (Loosely translated it means "the Workers CommunistParty - MarxistLeninism ,WCP-ML) They believed all people should be equal and the path to that goal would be achieved through Armed Forces.

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This movie is about high-school teacher Pedersen and his arrival to a small Norwegian industrial town. The movie starts about him telling us that he was here to achieve his goal: A wife, a child and a home.

This is of course not enough for him. After getting married and moving into his dream home he is drawn to communism through one of his students. When the student moves away to study at the university, Pedersen loses his lighthouse; very soon to be replaced, and led, by another, even brighter star: Nina Skaatoey. They are almost immediately drawn into a very intense love-affair.

After a while he has lost both his wife and Nina. And this is what the movie is about. His intense dream and wishes of getting together again, with the love of his life Nina, makes Pedersen the last standing communist. And he was (in my view) never even a real one.

The movie, almost two hours long, is boring at first. The intense love-scenes and how were told, again and again, that Pedersen gets communist propaganda visions, each time he is involved with these people, is way to over-told. It's when things starts to fail, and the naivety of AKP-MLs dreams overshadows the reality (and pure logic) this movie starts to get interesting.

The last part, where the whole thing is smoldering apart, is clearly the best. (And what makes my score justified).Nina is falling apart and Ane Dahl Torp is acting this breakdown in such a painful way, its hard to witness. Pedersens loyalty is just as well drawn out by Kristoffer Joner. This is also excellent done.

All in all, if you can make it through the first half, this is a movie well worth seeing.

Great, but melancholy and thought-provoking.

[up_north_girl · 6/10 · 13 April 2006]

"Gymnaslærer Pedersen" is based on the novel " Gymnaslærer Pedersens beretning om den store politiske vekkelsen som har gjemsøkt vårt land" by Dag Solstad, one of the greatest Norwegian authors in modern time. The title means (in somewhat directly translated English): " Gymnaslærer(Gymnaslærer: teacher working in upper secondary school)Pedersens (name) report on the great political awakening that has haunted our country" The political awakening we're talking about, is the Marxist-Leninist movement, also called AKP (Arbeidernes kommunistparti:The labour communist party) The action takes place in the 1970's, and is a description of how the communist-movement rose and fell. The communist-movement used a romanticized description of both Soviet and China (during Mao), as an example of how they wanted the world to be. In an increasingly capitalist country, the communists dreamed of armed revolution. Pedersen tells his story of how these thoughts affected him, and how he experienced AKP and the Marxist-Leninism.

I think this is a great movie, not only because it has a simple but touching story, but also because it has elegant ways of emphasizing points and references. It also have some great filming.

The whole story is really good, but melancholy and thought-provoking, which are qualities I like in a movie. I think this movie really makes you think through your political beliefs (if you have some), and it makes you realize how important it is to view issues from more than just one angle. I don't think it is a political movie, because it doesn't tell you what to believe. It merely gives you an impression of how this political awakening affected some lives, and what became of it. Enjoy:)

OK, but misses a few marks

[Eplebit · 7/10 · 21 May 2006]

This movie is quite good, but not quite as good as it could and should have been. The main problem is that AKP-ML only looks like some small comical sect with less than a dozen members. From what I've heard from people that lived in this period, they were actually quite big and made a huge impact on several parts of society, especially for students. I wish this could have been better shown in the movie.

Other than that, there's a lot of good stuff here. While some things are a bit over the top, the story is actually pretty good and the acting is good as well, although seeing Joner in about every Norwegian movie is starting to feel a bit strange. But being the best actor of them all, I guess you can live with that.

Big disappointment

[bobbyperu-4 · 1/10 · 13 March 2006]

Norways best director (Hans Petter Moland) teams up with the beautiful and talented Ane Dahl Torp and Kristoffer Joner, one of very few believable film actors in this country. Based on the book by Dag Solstad, a genial temporary Norwegian author, "Pedersen" should be a real treat. But it isn't. The movie is so awful its hard to believe the images you see on the screen. It's like a joke, only it isn't.

In short the story follows some extraordinary horny Norwegian working-class people. Their ambition is a armed revolution against "the capitalistic pigs". They have sex and sing, sing and have sex. And neither is amusing or remotely interesting to watch. I just got embarrassed and even more so as "the movie" progressed.

Norwegian critics have given the movie rave reviews, but do not trust them. This movie is crap and it's a damn shame that we have wasted taxpayers money on this awful mess.

Don't see it - life is way too short.

How to live according to your beliefs

[Cadette · 8/10 · 30 January 2012]

This is very entertaining and interesting snap shot from a point in time when young people in the north were looking east to find their political identity. It is a story about the difficulties you come across when trying to follow your ideals and the frustration you can feel if the ones close to you do not always share your dream. It's about intellectual power, love and lust, masters and slaves and all the different roles you acquire when you are part of a group of people trying to change the world. This film also describes some of the hardships you face if you dare try to change your social class. Would you throw away all your possessions to join the movement and are you brave enough to face alienation in order to be able to follow your dreams?

One of the few films that is better than the book it is based on

[nilzz · 9/10 · 15 September 2006]

The name of the party the main characters are involved in tells its own tale: AKP-ml, the Workers Communist Party - the marxist-leninists.... Actually, this film is about the ordinary peoples involvement in the extreme leftist movement in Norway, and deals with the passion, absurdity and tragedy of this period. The film is much less apologetic than the book, and it manages to portray the characters rather truthfully and not as a parody of the times. Compared to other parts of the world the 70's were more politicized, uncompromising and polarized in Norway, something that the movie reflects as it describes the lives of the party cadres. Some nice footage and good acting makes this film well worth for everybody interested in learning about the politically radical way the societal upheavals of the 60's and the 70's influenced a small country "on top of the world".