by Nathaniel R
Talking about weekend box office isn't as much fun as it was pre-pandemic since it matters less and less with more films opting for streaming only. So let's get super niche instead. With the Oscar nominated The Worst Person in the World doing terrific business in the nation's arthouses -- I even heard strangers talking about it on the subway in NYC, always a great sign that an arthouse film has caught on -- let's talk about how Norwegian films fare at the Oscars and with US moviegoers...
AT THE OSCARS
Though Oscar's Best International Feature Film category doesn't always accurately reflect which national cinemas are hot with cinephiles, critics, and global audiences, it is somewhat more reflective of how American moviegoers react to international cinema, embracing some countries and not others and doing so in waves. This is also reflected in or due to (chicken & egg) which auteurs and movie stars become international figures. When it comes to Scandinavia, Sweden was originally the global hotspot in the 20th century thanks to internationally succesful films from Ingmar Bergman and Jan Troell as well as movie stars like Ingrid Bergman and Max Von Sydow. Denmark powered up in the late 20th century and in the 21st century Danish films have become remarkably popular with Oscar. Norway, where longtime readers know I once lived briefly, has always been in third place when it comes to Scandinavian cinema but that may be changing as the Norwegian film industry has been growing.
Sweden's entire Oscar record: 61 submissions, 16 noms, 3 wins, and 3 additional finalists
Denmark entire Oscar record: 59 submissions, 14 noms, 4 wins, and 2 additional finalists
Norway's entire Oscar record: 43 submissions, 6 noms, 0 wins, and 2 additional finalists
If it weren't for the huge critical and Oscar embrace of Japan's Drive My Car, Norway might have finally been looking at its first Oscar win later this month. In fact, Worst Person in the World has recently surpassed Drive My Car in both domestic and international box office revenue suggesting that an earlier release would have been wise and might have led to another Oscar nod (Best Actress maybe?) and even bigger receipts.
AT THE US BOX OFFICE
Nine Lives (1957)
Please note that the following list of hits is imperfect. Before modern box office reporting it's very hard to know what was successful. For example, Nine Lives (1957), a World War II survival drama and the first Norwegian film nominated for the Oscars, was also the first Norwegian film released in the US. We recently discussed it on the One Inch Barrier podcast. But there isn't any box office information about how well it did though it got a lot of press that year. The Norwegian documentary Kon-Tiki (1950) which won the Oscar in its category was also theatrically released but there isn't any box office information. There's also no box office information online about the US releases of Orion's Belt (1985) or the edgy indie Junk Mail (1997), another Norwegian Oscar submission. I know the latter hit theaters since I saw it in a theater that very year!
Pathfinder (1987)
Sadly, Oscar nominations and critical praise are never a full guarantee of success, since so much depends on distributors and the whims of the public and media. Pathfinder (1987) and The Other Side of Sunday (1996), two of Norway's six Oscar nominated films, were not released in the US until months after their Oscar race (why do distributors do this?) and as such were old news and flopped with under $11,000 in US revenues. That's a major pity when it comes to Pathfinder since it's easy to imagine that catching on with the public as it's a riveting action-filled film that's just unusual enough to be "exotic" or "othered"... and while those are loaded words, they account for the appeal of a lot of popular international titles with arthouse moviegoers. On the other end of the distribution problems spectrum, internationally successful releases like World War II dramas 12th Man (2017) and Max Manus (2008) were curiously never released in the US.
Thelma (2017)
But on the whole when a Norwegian film does get US distribution, it struggles to find an American audience. Even Joachim Trier, arguably the most famous Norwegian director in the US, struggles. His critically acclaimed films like the suicidal Oslo August 31st (2011) and the supernatural Thelma (2017) were somewhat succesful overseas but in the US neither went far beyond $100k at the box office.
Okay, let's talk hits...
RUNNER UP
THE WAVE (2015) $177k (global gross $12.9)
Roar Uthaug's disaster film about a fjord's collapse and the resulting tsunami functioned like a FYC reel that visual fx disaster epics were not Hollywood-only territory. But Hollywood makes so many films like this that it didn't serve any underserved audience here and thus didn't get much attention. Norway submitted it to the Oscars to no avail. Globally it was more popular, though. Currently streaming on Fubo, Roku, and Hoopla
THE TEN BIGGEST NORWEGIAN HITS IN THE US
10 INSOMNIA (1997) $227k (global gross not available)
Erik Skjoldbjærg's crime drama about an insomniac detective really got people talking in the late 90s and arguably predicted the hot trend of Scandinavian crime dramas of the Aughts (see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and many more). Ubiquitous Swedish character actor Stellan Skarsgård led the film. Insomnia was successful enough in release that the remake rights were snatched up immediately and Christopher Nolan made an English language version in 2002 with Al Pacino in Skarsgård's role. Currently streaming on Criterion Channel
09 TROLLHUNTER (2010) $253k (global gross $5.3)
This faux documentary about students investigating bear killings and realizing that trolls are real definitely won a cult following in the US during its release but it's been much more popular as a streaming title. Note: It has no connection whatsoever to the animated series Trollhunters (which is also excellent). Currently streaming on HBOMax, Roku, or Hoopla
08 O'HORTEN (2007) $302k (global gross $1.7)
Bent Hamer's dramedy about a train engineer's retirement was an arthouse success. It was also Oscar submitted though the Academy didn't bite. Available to rent online
07 ELLING (2001) $314k (global gross $2.0)
Petter Næss's film about a middle aged man with anxiety (based on a popular book series) was Norway's biggest hit at home that year and became their fourth Oscar nominee.
06 KITCHEN STORIES (2003) $351k (global gross $2.8 )
Bent Hamer's comedy about a curmudgeonly man's kitchen habits was a critical and festival hit and also amused art house audiences in its year. Hamer received a European Film Award nomination for Best Director and though the film was submitted for the Oscars, the Academy passed. Currently available to rent or buy on Amazon.
05 REPRISE (2006) $554k (global gross $1.2)
Joachim Trier's startling debut about two competitive 20something writer friends trying to make a mark in Oslo is an absolute must-see for anyone who has seen and loved The Worst Person in the World. It introduced global audiences to Trier's regular star Anders Danielsen Lie (the other lead was Espen Klouman Høiner). Lie went on to appear in most of the director's subsequent films and delivers the performance of his career in Worst Person. We're proud to have interviewed Joachim Trier way back in the day on the podcast (in our very first year of podcasting!). Sadly Oscar voters didn't respond to the film which probably skewed too young for them at the time. Available to rent or buy on Amazon.
04 HEADHUNTERS (2011) $1.2 (global gross $18.9)
Morten Tyldum, who would soon go on to an Oscar nomination for directing The Imitation Game (2014), was behind this drama about an art thief and a mercenary. Norwegian star Aksel Hennie and Denmark's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau headlined. Coster-Waldau had been working in both English language and Scandinavian cinema for several years at that point but his fame had just skyrocketed as this followed the first season of Game of Thrones into release. Currently streaming on Roku, Hoopla, Tubi and Cinemax.
03 KON-TIKI (2012) $1.5 (global gross: $22.8)
Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's sea-adventure movie, based on Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft, benefitted from its world famous story and its hunky Nordic shirtless cast and became a successful export. If you're ever in Oslo you must visit the Kon-Tiki museum! Heyerdahl's journey is also the subject of the 1950 Oscar winning documentary of the same name so Academy voters were already into it. As a result Norway scored their fifth Oscar nomination in Best International Feature Film. The 2012 live action film was released in both dubbed and subtitled version and is, to our knowledge, Norway's biggest hit worldwide. For those who enjoy the ridiculously attractive Tobias Santelmann in this (he plays Knut Haugland), he's also terrific in the shortlived Netflix mystery series Borderliner (2017). Kon-Tiki is currently streaming on Roku, Tubi, and Pluto.
02 THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2021) $2.2 (global gross: $8.0)
Joachim Trier's latest, an existential romantic comedy about a restless woman named Julie (the incredible Reinate Reinsve) and two men she falls for (Anders Danielsen Lie and Herbert Nordrum) is one of 2021's very best films. Though it is not the highest grossing Norwegian film globally, it is now the most successful Norwegian-language picture in the US.
Worst Person was nominated for two Oscars (Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay) and I am personally rooting for it to win both of its categories. How about you? It was also nominated for five Team Experience Awards right here and is the silver medalist in my own annual prizes, The Film Bitch Awards. It's currently in theatrical release in several US cities.
SPECIAL CASE - EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
01 SHIPWRECKED (1990) $15.1 (global gross: unavailable)
I almost didn't include this Disney-released adventure film in the list for reasons of purity. It was director Nils Gaup's follow up to his Oscar nominated Pathfinder (1987) but it's far more international. The 19th century set film, also known as "Haakon Kaakonsen" is about a young Norwegian boy (Stian Smestad) who discovers that some of his shipmates are pirates. Though the British characters (Gabriel Byrne has a large role) were always speaking English in the film, Disney dubbed the Norwegian dialogue in English before its release in the states (since kids dont generally read subtitles). If you don't consider it Norwegian enough for this list despite its director and protagonist, then Worst Person is your #1 most successful Norwegian film of all time in US release. How about that? Shipwrecked is currently streaming on Disney+
How many of these films have you seen?