Together explores what happens when people are torn apart. When the glue that holds their family together – wife and mother Kristine (Evy Kasseth Røsten) – dissolves by way of a freak accident, the two disjointed members, father Roger (Fridtjov Såheim) and twelve-year-old son Pål (Odin Waage), are forced to strive for intimacy. Shocked by their lack of communication, they realize that the only thing that kept them together was Kristine. Chatterbox Roger has lost the only person who could shut him up, while taciturn Pål has been deprived of his maternal mouthpiece. Kristine's memory lingers on like a proverbial phantom limb: instead of reaching out to each other, they both reach for their dearly departed, which only increases the pain.
If this were a Hollywood film, a new-found closeness would suddenly begin to take hold, reinforced by strategically placed music – which is why you should thank your lucky stars Matias Armand Jordal is Norwegian! Togetherallows its main characters to drift apart. Unable to forgive himself for his involuntary part in his wife's death, Roger slowly distances himself from his responsibilities as his son looks on in dismay. Roger's paternal instincts seem to have gone AWOL, a fact sadly corroborated when the child protection services show up at the doorstep at his request. “I can't be your dad anymore,” he says, and looks the other way. It would be heartbreaking, if this unusual family drama weren't laced with a touch of comedy that often borders on the absurd. Yet Togetheris not meant to amuse. The humour is so inconspicuous, it is almost impossible to put a finger on the film's particular brand of wit – probably because it is so intricately entwined with the stuff of everyday life.
The only steadily grounded presence throughout this tumultuous tragicomic adventure is young Pål, who refuses to believe that parental affection comes and goes like fashion. Jordal embraces his male leads with understanding, holding their hands until they figure out a recipe for something other than disaster.
Dimitri Eipides
Matias Armand Jordal was born in Oslo and studied film editing at the Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm. He has directed television series, commercials and numerous short films, including
Le Petit Mort (97),
To Fly (00),
Old Friends (00),
The Flower (00),
A Sure Thing (01),
The Bus Ride (01) and
Daddy (04).
Together (09) is his first feature film.