08/02/2022 - In Anders Emblem’s film, a young journalist finds meaning in her job while investigating the deportation of an asylum seeker in rural Norway

“What’s the best thing about Norway?” Asta (Amalie Ibsen Jensen) asks her girlfriend, Live (Maria Agwumaro), while on the floor of their flat. Having just been to a refugee centre outside the city, the young journalist is struggling with how to frame her experience for a report in the local newspaper. As privileged citizens, they are not allowed to complain. “On the other hand, we would be stupid not to fight to preserve this.”

Following his 2018 feature debut, Hurry Slowly, Norwegian director Anders Emblem casts another glance at the societal challenges of a small town, situating the plot once again in his native Ålesund. Focusing on refugees this time, instead of intellectual disability, in A Human Position [+see also:
trailer
interview: Anders Emblem
film profile] he also welcomes back Hurry Slowly actors Amalie Ibsen Jensen as protagonist Asta and Lars Halvor Andreassen in a small role as a photographer. His new effort has just screened in the Bright Future section of International Film Festival Rotterdam, following a world premiere at Tromsø.

As in his previous works, Emblem opts to give his movie a smooth feel via a visual language that prevents the viewer from suspecting that anything could possibly disturb the peacefulness of this sleepy nest. In long, wide shots, he lenses the small town with an uneasy tenderness, showcasing its deserted streets and the gloomy midnight sun, which never seems to set. Only Asta breaks through this barrier of drowsiness, as she walks to and from her office, carrying out dull tasks such as reporting on the sports season, demonstrations against city planning or closed tunnels.

At first, Jensen’s portrayal betrays little emotion, with most of the dialogue being reserved for work interviews. Whenever Asta is by herself, a lack of purpose can be seen in the glare of her eyes, her gaze fixated on an invisible void. Spending time with her girlfriend is a loving but well-entrenched cycle of cooking, board games and TV. There is a monotony to her minimalistic flat, which is either a lifestyle choice or pointedly chosen symbolism.

Her interest in the world around her is reignited when she reads about an asylum seeker being forcibly returned to his home country after ten years, after his employer became embroiled in a social dumping incident. The refugee, Aslan, never makes an appearance in the movie. And yet, as Asta starts following hot on the heels of his deportation, he becomes a looming presence over the blurry outlines of a bureaucratic system that simply doesn’t feel responsible.

“It feels so immense, but at the same time so impenetrable and neglected,” Asta sums up. This translates to the screen, with DoP Michael Mark Lanham framing the woman at skewed angles, often having her disappear during a scene. His most carefully designed compositions are bird’s-eye views of Asta’s and Live’s kitchen tables, as they eat or play games. The careful arrangement of food, games or a cat dropping in is rooted somewhere between a Daniel Spoerri artwork and a curated Instagram post.

The stifled dialogue and the lack of a musical backdrop sharpen the ambient sound, be it the rustling of leaves, the crashing of waves against a boat or just the turning of a newspaper page. Much of the later spoken dialogue revolves around the collection of chairs in Asta’s attic. “It’s peculiar that we sit on them,” the women observe. Could this be a coincidental parallel drawn with Aslan? A reliance on something so unspectacular, which nonetheless offers us a foothold in our daily lives? And what about refugees, whose unnoticed exploitation is what our privilege is built upon? Asta may not have a perfect solution within her grasp, but she can speak to her readers. Neither her nor Emblem make a call to action, but maybe, as Asta puts it, it’s just a call for a little compassion.

A Human Position is a Norwegian production staged by Anders Emblem, Stian Skjelstad and production company Vesterhavet.