Norway (2014 film)

Norway
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yannis Veslemes
Written by	Yannis Veslemes
Produced by	Yorgos Tsourgiannis Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
Starring	Vangelis Mourikis Alexia Kaltsiki Daniel Bolda
Cinematography	Christos Karamanis
Edited by	Yannis Chalkiadakis
Music by	Felizol
Production company	Horsefly Productions
Release date	7 July 2014 (2014-07-07) (KVIFF)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	Greece

Norway (Greek: Νορβηγία) is a 2014 Greek black comedy horror film written and directed by Yannis Veslemes, who also composed its score under the alias Felizol.[1] Set in 1984, the film stars Vangelis Mourikis as a hedonistic vampire named Zano, who arrives in Athens and becomes involved in an elaborate plot with a couple he meets at a disco club.[1][2]

Norway premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on 7 July 2014.[1][3]

Production

Development

Writer-director Yannis Veslemes described the character of Zano as "A vampire that combines everything I love and hate about New Greeks."[4] The film derives its title from the 1984 song "Norway" by the Greek band Without a Necklace.[4]

Filming

Filming took place in the summer of 2012.[4]

Reception

Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter called Norway "a feverish exercise in heavily stylized weirdness", noting Veslemes's "bold ideas and stylistic verve" but writing that the film "suffers from a rambling plot and too many digressions into surreal whimsy that undermine the main narrative."[1]

In 2023, Matt Donato of IGN ranked Norway number 19 on his list of the 25 best vampire movies of all time, writing, "I promise you will never see a groovier, more fleet-of-foot vampire hallucination than Norway".[5]

References

1. Dalton, Stephen (15 July 2014). "'Norway': Karlovy Vary Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
2. Brown, Todd (2 July 2014). "Greek Vampire Must Dance In Yiannis Veslemes' Trippy Norway". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
3. Krassakopoulos, George (3 June 2014). "Η «Νορβηγία» του Γιάννη Βεσλεμέ στο φεστιβάλ του Κάρλοβι Βάρι". Flix.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
4. "Οθόνες / H "Νορβηγία" θα συζητηθεί πολύ το φετινό φθινόπωρο". Lifo (in Greek). 14 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
5. Donato, Matt (9 March 2023). "The 25 Best Vampire of All Time". IGN. Retrieved 29 July 2023.

External links

• Norway at IMDb
• Norway at Rotten Tomatoes