Back at the film festival last night, we saw a film that topped our list this year. We found Troubled Water (the Norwegian title actually translates better to “the unseen” or “the invisibles”) both compelling and provocative. The same story is told in two parts in the film, from the perspective of Thomas, a parolee accused and convicted of murdering a young child years ago, and that of mother of the child victim.
We’ve been asked not to reveal too much, so we won’t provide a lot of detail beyond that. Suffice it to say, though, that the acting was absolutely amazing. What makes it even more incredible – as we learned at the post-film Q&A from director Erik Poppe, is that two of the standouts – the actor who plays Thomas, and the actress who plays Anna, a beautiful, compassionate priest who befriends Thomas, are newbies, fresh out of a Norwegian acting academy. The film is the final film in the “Oslo Trilogy” by Poppe, and you can be sure that we’ll be checking out the preceding two films, which include Hawaii, Oslo, a film that showed at the 2005 SFIFF.
Poppe shared that inspiration for the film and its theme came from his own personal life experiences and the emotions he encountered after a nephew of his was killed by drunk driver in a just-stolen automobile. It’s an exploration of individual quests for redemption and forgiveness.
You have one final chance to check out Troubled Water at the film festival this evening. It shows again tonight at the Kabuki at 8:00 p.m. Info.
