Shockingly weak. The only reason I don’t feel shy while watching it is because I have to keep laughing…at myself. Because I’m watching this movie. No one is forcing you to do this. It’s still on Netflix for a reason. In addition, it is marked with these signs:
Charming, intimate and inspiring.
However, in the words of the famous and truly famous movie Caesar, throw ’em in front of the squirrels, but it’s not prejudice that says with me: Just a normal Christmas The Norwegian film is very bad. It’s not glamorous, it’s not intimate, and why should it be inspiring?
Love is not enough if it is enough
One can only guess why this didn’t work, and decryption is not certain either. Because it will be good as long as it’s based on a true story. The Norwegian girl Thea falls in love with the Indian Jashan. There may have been times when this could have been considered offensive. Today, we see the efforts made by the leaders of many countries and their very introverted citizens, and for this you do not even have to travel far, we live in those times where the illusion that we should return to the era of scandals is becoming more and more fashionable.
However, Norway is a welcoming country, and the calendar also shows the year 2023, so it is incomprehensible that Thea does not dare to tell her mother that Jachan is her fiancé.
And here is the first shock… because it is not clear why not. The explanation in the movie is that Thea is just waiting for the right moment, but why? Because you don’t dare? Well, he doesn’t dare. but why?
If this is true, is it really average?
Another reason for the conflict is that Jachan is not familiar with Norwegian Christmas customs. This may be understandable, since as a Hindu, holidays and customs are a bit different in India. But why doesn’t Thea tell him what to do? It is simply incomprehensible. Just as director and screenwriter Peter Holmsen knows that a romantic comedy, especially if it’s Christmas, is powerful if what we’re seeing makes sense. Because humor and drama count in it. It’s weird, because Holmsen is also showing this on Netflix Posthumous: the city without the dead It is still known exactly in this series.
The problem may be that if this is a true story — and it is, since the real Thea and the real Jashan dance happily in front of the cameras at the end of the movie — then they made the mistake of sticking to the original, true version. . Which is nothing more than telling the story over a Christmas beer. Imagine that Thea, the Norwegian girl, met the Indian Jachan, who had gone north for Christmas and didn’t know what it was like there, and didn’t even know that the guy next door had been messing with Thea for years.
The clichés and boringly familiar plotlines don’t help the film either. I’m only asking one thing, and I promise this is not a spoiler, but rather a question born of honest frustration:
If they have already cast their votes, they can easily decide if they want to watch this movie. If they decide to do this, here is another aspect that they may not find in the movie, because without it there is no Christmas and no love.
Where is the love left if there is no chemistry?
Ida Ursin Holm (Thea) and Kanan Gil (Jashan) are not a married couple. It’s unbelievable that they love each other. Nothing shakes in her, not even those around her. However, if the emotions are not clear, how can we believe what they have to portray? Maybe if comedian Kenan Gill had not been cast in the role of Jashan, everyone would have been better off – because we wouldn’t have to laugh even when there’s nothing to do…
At the same time, it is interesting, and still gives some relief, that the real Thea and Jashan, who appear and dance at the end of the film, are happy. They are liberated, and from them flows their love for each other. And although all this is only a presence for a few seconds, it is still good to see that what the actors and director did not succeed in, succeeds in life.
However, we can only say that the landscapes in the film are beautiful, the Norwegian folk costumes are beautiful, and the editing is good. The movie is just terrible. But hey, you watch it anyway, and for the few seconds we see the true lovers, we better believe that omnia vincit amor.
In other words: love conquers all. Even very bad movies.
3/10
