North

Rune Denstad Langlo's Nord marks another addition to the growing body of Northern European comedies with super-offbeat, idiosyncratic tones and understated flyspecks of humor - a subgenre typified by the comedic work of such directors as Bent Hamer, Aki Kaurismaki, and Boris Khlebnikov. Anders Baasmo Christiansen stars as Jomar Henriksen, a onetime skiing pro who bottomed out with a nervous breakdown, and now occupies a low-key job as a ski path patroller. He spends untoward hours bored out of his mind, patrolling vast, snowy wastes - a job which grows so mundane and monotonous that Jomar eventually loses all focus and begins drinking heavily on the job, lazing around, and smoking prodigious quantities of cigarettes. His life takes an unusual turn when an old friend crops up and informs him that he has an estranged son living to the north. Curious, Jomar hits the icy terrain in his snowmobile and embarks on a picaresque series of adventures en route to see his boy. (official distributor synopsis)