Mark Saha's Blog - Posts Tagged "europe"
22 JULY
This drama by director Paul Greengrass depicts the infamous 2011 massacre in Norway and its aftermath. I saw this at a screening in LA with director Greengrass in attendance for a Q&A afterward and thought it extremely worthwhile. It will be hard to find since the director says it will only appear in about 200 theaters, but will be available on Netflex (the producer).
Some may remember in incident in 2011. From Wikipedia:
“The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July (Norwegian: 22. juli), ] the date of the events, were two sequential lone wolf terrorist attacks by Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp. 77 people were killed.
“The first attack was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22. … The explosion killed eight people and injured at least 209 people, twelve seriously. … The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. Breivik, dressed in a homemade police uniform and showing false identification, took a ferry to the island and opened fire at the participants, killing 69 and injuring at least 110, 55 seriously.
“Breivik’s trial took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court, where Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks, but denied criminal guilt and claimed the defense of necessity (jus necessitatis)…. Breivik was convicted as charged and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention in prison, the maximum sentence allowed in Norway. The sentence can be extended indefinitely as long as the prisoner is deemed a threat to society.”
Greengrass’ film covers the attacks and subsequent trial with a riveting dispassionate style that largely leaves viewers to pass judgment and blame. There is some suggestion Norwegian intelligence failed to detect the scheme because they were focused on Islamic extremists rather than the European right.
Greengrass’ comments at the screening focused on Breivik’s perception that traditional Norwegian (and European) cultures were being erased by an onslaught of immigration sponsored by left wing European democracies. The director sees this shift toward populism, fascism and anti-immigration as a growing sentiment in Europe especially (but discretely declined to comment on the U.S.), about which he is deeply concerned. He says that his father, who is 94 and fought in WW II, commented that he never expected to see such movements again in his lifetime.
The wide ranging film follows the surviving victims, the government struggling to discover what happened and how to prevent a reoccurrence, and the trial. Breivik is a chilling presence who shows neither remorse nor humanity from start to finish. He is confident that he is acting on behalf of millions who share his beliefs; his stated intention is overthrow of the liberal democratic government, and replacement with a fascist one that will preserve the nation’s culture and race.
Probably not many have even heard of this picture but it is worth a look. Unfortunately, the Netflix trailer fails to convey its quality. It is definitely worth your time.
Some may remember in incident in 2011. From Wikipedia:
“The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July (Norwegian: 22. juli), ] the date of the events, were two sequential lone wolf terrorist attacks by Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp. 77 people were killed.
“The first attack was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22. … The explosion killed eight people and injured at least 209 people, twelve seriously. … The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. Breivik, dressed in a homemade police uniform and showing false identification, took a ferry to the island and opened fire at the participants, killing 69 and injuring at least 110, 55 seriously.
“Breivik’s trial took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court, where Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks, but denied criminal guilt and claimed the defense of necessity (jus necessitatis)…. Breivik was convicted as charged and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention in prison, the maximum sentence allowed in Norway. The sentence can be extended indefinitely as long as the prisoner is deemed a threat to society.”
Greengrass’ film covers the attacks and subsequent trial with a riveting dispassionate style that largely leaves viewers to pass judgment and blame. There is some suggestion Norwegian intelligence failed to detect the scheme because they were focused on Islamic extremists rather than the European right.
Greengrass’ comments at the screening focused on Breivik’s perception that traditional Norwegian (and European) cultures were being erased by an onslaught of immigration sponsored by left wing European democracies. The director sees this shift toward populism, fascism and anti-immigration as a growing sentiment in Europe especially (but discretely declined to comment on the U.S.), about which he is deeply concerned. He says that his father, who is 94 and fought in WW II, commented that he never expected to see such movements again in his lifetime.
The wide ranging film follows the surviving victims, the government struggling to discover what happened and how to prevent a reoccurrence, and the trial. Breivik is a chilling presence who shows neither remorse nor humanity from start to finish. He is confident that he is acting on behalf of millions who share his beliefs; his stated intention is overthrow of the liberal democratic government, and replacement with a fascist one that will preserve the nation’s culture and race.
Probably not many have even heard of this picture but it is worth a look. Unfortunately, the Netflix trailer fails to convey its quality. It is definitely worth your time.
