Based on a true story and the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Fjord revolves around a new family in town whose lives are turned upside down by an accusation.
The film opens on the Gheorghiu family; it appears their teenage daughter Ella (Vanessa Ceban) has just been disciplined. Mihai (Sebastian Stan), his wife Lisbet (Renate Reinsve), and their five children have moved from Romania back to Lisbet’s hometown in Norway. Lisbet is a nurse and caregiver for their neighbor’s grandfather, while Mihai works at the school. We learn that the family is very religious. Ella and her brother Emmanuel (Jonathan Ciprian Breazu) befriend Noora (Henrikke Lund Olsen), who’s happy to have kids her own age next door. Noora is a bit of a wild child and gets the two older kids into all sorts of shenanigans, like sneaking out.
As the kids go to school one morning, a teacher notices bruises on Ella. When questioned, she says she fell down the stairs. The teacher doesn’t believe her story, which leads to an investigation at the school. The teachers interview both Emmanuel and Ella to find out if either parent has ever hit them. Soon, arrangements are made, and the kids are taken from the household, while Mihai is questioned at a police station about abuse. The charges are now serious, and Mihai and Lisbet must not only fight to get their kids back but also defend themselves under Norwegian law.
Mihai and his family gather around a piano in their living room in Fjord.
“The charges are now serious, and Mihai and Lisbet must not only fight to get their kids back but also defend themselves under Norwegian law.”
A few years back, I watched the film A Different Man, which starred Stan and Reinsve, with both actors’ careers on the rise. I was excited to see their reunion. Unfortunately, this project about parents accused of child abuse didn’t quite hit the mark for me, nor do I understand why it was a Palme d’Or winner. Although the film was inspired by a true story and is the Romanian entry for Best International Film at the Oscars, it didn’t feel like a “winner.” Sure, it’s a film that makes you think and keeps you invested, but not a winner.
When I think of Palme d’Or winners, I look toward films with a bit more originality, such as Parasite and Triangle of Sadness, or ones that I feel can really compete during awards season, such as Anora, which went on to win the Oscar. This film feels similar to last year’s winner, It Was Just an Accident, which seemed like a film I had seen before. We’ve all seen the David and Goliath legal stories where there’s an injustice, and we tune in to see how David beats Goliath. There’s also a plot point, which I won’t ruin, that was never fully addressed and should have been.
If there is an upside to the film, it’s the performance of Sebastian Stan as the patriarch of the family. Stan takes a risk and gives himself a bald hairstyle, which allows him to disappear into the role. He also speaks three languages in the film. How authentically, I couldn’t say, but he nailed it for me. Reinsve is brilliant in everything, and it shows with her performances in last year’s Sentimental Value and most recently in Backrooms. She never lets herself get pigeonholed, and here she plays a mother of five children.
Films this award season are pushing over two hours, and this one runs 2 hours and 26 minutes. Luckily, the film doesn’t drag, but the ending may leave you a bit annoyed, considering the amount of time you’ve spent sitting in your chair watching.
"…Stan takes a risk and gives himself a bald hairstyle..."
