Directed by:
Erik PoppeCinematography:
Martin OtterbeckComposer:
Wolfgang PlaggeCast:
Andrea Berntzen, Aleksander Holmen, Brede Fristad, Elli Rhiannon Müller Osbourne, Sorosh Sadat, Hang Tran, Solveig Koløen Birkeland, Jenny Svennevig (more)Plots(1)
On 22 July 2011 five hundred young people attending a summer camp on the island of Utøya were attacked by a heavily armed right-wing extremist. The murderous attack claimed the lives of 69 victims. It was a trauma that rocked Norway to the core, and still does to this day. Director Erik Poppe has dared to attempt to turn the events of that summer into a film. His drama opens with documentary footage of Oslo where, shortly beforehand, the same attacker had exploded a car bomb killing eight people; the scene then shifts to the island. The camera follows 19-year-old Kaja who is spending a few days of the holiday here with her young sister Emilie. The two are quarrelling because Emilie is in no mood for the camp and has absolutely no desire to go to the barbecue. And so Kaja ends up going alone. Suddenly, the first gunshot is heard. (Berlinale)
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Reviews (8)
Another gloomy film in a row showing how the feeling of safety is just an illusion. The main role, in Utøya, is authenticity. I can imagine that for this film, a lot of viewers will claim that form prevails over contents. It’s definitely not how I see it, though, even if I understand not everyone will have Utøya: July 22 in their heart, since it is a very demanding film to watch. The creators deserve great recognition, especially for filming the story in a relatively challenging environment and with unpredictable child actors, all in just one shot! Impressive, very unpleasant and emotionally disturbing. [KVIFF 2018]
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At first, the style of camerawork was really annoying, but then I realized it added to the bleak atmosphere the creators managed to achieve. It was obvious what the story would be about and how it would end, but I really liked the execution. The teenagers running around the woods in panic, looking for a place to hide with the sound of shooting in the background created decent suspense and I enjoyed the film a lot.
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A thorough lesson in cheap narrative manipulation. I believe that an audience of a highly sensitive nature might be impressed, and I can’t deny at least the strong depiction of those seemingly endless 72 minutes (though that’s probably because the concept of the film is utterly boring and several passages are endless, especially for the viewer). A strong and heavy topic transformed into flat narration that lacks arguments, which only aims to exhaust the viewer without stimulating any interpretation or curiosity. To a great extent, this is thanks to the properly authentic and chilling format, but it’s mostly tedious, shallow and uninteresting, which for a premise like this it’s very bad. Paul Greengrass’s 22 July is far more intense because it doesn’t rely only on effect and it’s not afraid to place the whole event, including the suffering of the innocent victims (for which I can't find enough words of sympathy) in a much more urgent and provocative argumentative context (and no, the film cannot be defended with the argument that it should only be a raw depiction of the events on the island, because such depiction should communicate with the viewer instead of having them yawn). 50%
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I think the filmmakers chose an ideal approach to depict the Utøya massacre. I appreciate films that use long takes, and I admire the effort of shooting a movie in a single take. It's hard to find fault with this film. It's likely for the best that it was made and filmed the way it was. I'm glad the creators opted for an unconventional portrayal of the real event rather than a traditional biopic about Breivik or something similar. We've had plenty of films about mass murderers, and it's refreshing to focus on the victims for a change. For all these reasons, I’d give the creators a thumbs up. So why am I rating the film only 2 stars? It just didn't resonate with me. I didn't immerse myself in the 72 minutes of chaos and despair, which I find to be a significant issue. I'm not a viewer who needs constant action, but some scenes dragged so much that I found myself mentally checked out, rather than being engrossed with the students fighting for survival. The film started strong, and the initial gunshots on the island gave me chills. The first few minutes are very powerful and impactful. However, it lost me during a scene where a group of kids, including the protagonist, hid by a tree and speculated on what was happening. That scene seemed to drag on forever and from that point on, I was extremely bored and couldn't connect with their emotions. Normally, I'm quite empathetic, but for some reason, this film didn't reach me. Even the prolonged scene with the dying girl didn’t hit me as hard as it should have. The most interesting part was the last few minutes, focusing on the protagonist's story resolution. But even then, thinking back, it didn't leave a lasting impression; it was just unexpected in the moment. Utøya - July 22 is a respectable effort, but I can’t fully appreciate it. I need to mull it over more — I’d like to give it at least 3 stars, but something holds me back. I’m a bit conflicted about it. By the way, the best reconstruction of a mass shooting attack is still Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique, with its surgical precision and chilling coldness.
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Hats off to the filmmakers for managing to pull this off in one single shot. It adds an incredible sense of authenticity. It’s just a shame that the movie is sometimes lacking in atmosphere. After all, it took the Norwegian cops ages to finally catch that damned Breivik. On the other hand, I must admit that the actual content overpowered the premise. Even if this movie brims with quality filmmaking, it’s ultimately still “just” a reconstruction of a massacre and nothing more. After watching this, I had to go watch some documentaries as well to get a better picture on this. If it were up to me, I’d sent Breivik to Guantanamo so that they could go rogue on his ass. Whatever the Norwegian press sometimes write about their prisons make them look like a walk in a park, which is a laughable punishment for what he’s done.
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Gallery (30)
Photo © Gussi Cinema
![Utøya: July 22 - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/163/278/163278744_3a39d7.jpg)
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