The Men's Room (film)

The Men's Room (Norwegian: For vi er gutta) is a 2018 Norwegian documentary film written and directed by Peter Sommer and Jo Vemund Svendson. It concerns 25 Norwegian men in a men's choir rehearsing for their biggest event ever: warming up for Black Sabbath in front of 10,000 people. But there are problems backstage as Ivar, the conductor, is terminally ill, and might not live to experience the concert.

The Men's Room
Official poster
NorwegianFor vi er gutta
Directed byPetter Sommer
Jo Vemund Svendsen
Produced byFuglene AS
Written byPetter Sommer
Jo Vemund Svendsen
StarringIvar Krogh Hovd
Mannskoret
Gunnar Martinsen
Svein Bjørge
Geir Schau
Knut Akselsen
Prepple Houmb
Ivar Nergaard
Music byMartin Horntveth
Edited byPetter Sommer
Jo Vemund Svendsen
Distributed byWide House (FR)
Release date
  • September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) (Norway)
Running time
74 minutes
CountryNorway
LanguageNorwegian

The film has won international awards after its release. The international premiere was at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen 24 March 2019 where it won the NORDIC:DOX AWARD for best Nordic documentary film.

The Norwegian title is "For vi er gutta" (Because we're the guys) and is distributed through Norsk Film Distribusjon. In Denmark, the film had its theatrical release on 17 October 2019 under the name "Mandskoret"(The men's choir) and is distributed by Camera film.[1]

Production

The documentary format used is a mixture of interviews and "fly on the wall" coverage that includes a number of musical recitations. The focus is on the choir members themselves and does not delve too deeply into their private family life.[2][3]

Critical reception

In her review for Norwegian film magazine Kinomagasinest, Torunn Sala gave The Men's Room five stars from six, praising the direction and production as natural, unobtrusive and successfully capturing compassion and humour.[2] Meredith Taylor, reviewing for Filmuphoria, praised the lack of sentimentality, the quiet humour and emotional expression. She commented that the film:" ... glows with a low key charm so redolent of its North European origins ... ".[4] Clare Martin of Radio 13 New Zealand praised the film's naturalism while desiring a more detailed conclusion. She noted that: " ... Without needing to add in quirky camera angles or extreme close-ups, there is clarity and storytelling in every frame...".[3]

Awards and nominations

References
  1. "Mandskoret". Scope. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  2. "Anmeldelse: For vi er gutta – KM". Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  3. "Film Review: The Men's Room (Norway) 2018". www.radio13.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  4. "The Men's Room (2018) **** Krakow Film Festival 2019". May 27, 2019. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  5. "Gala closing ceremony of the 10th anniversary Odesa International Film Festival | News". oiff.com.ua. Archived from the original on 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  6. "41 MIFF Prizes". moscowfilmfestival.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  7. "The winners of CPH:DOX 2019 are..." CPH:DOX. 2019-03-29. Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  8. "The Dying Swan: The Intimate Portrait of a Ballerina Dominates the Golden Prague Awards". The Golden Prague Awards. 2019-09-29. Archived from the original on 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  9. ""For vi er gutta" fikk prisen for beste dokumentar på BIFF". Rushprint (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  10. "Awards of 59th Krakow Film Festival – 59th Krakow Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  11. "Den Norske Dokumentarfilmfestivalen". www.facebook.com (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  12. "Prisvinnerne i 2019!". Nordic/Docs (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2019-05-12. Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  13. "Årets prisvinnere på HUMAN idff". humanfilm.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2019-03-02. Archived from the original on 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
  14. "Amandanominasjonene 2019". filmfestivalen.no. 2019-06-19. Archived from the original on 2019-05-25. Retrieved 2019-09-29.
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