Norwegian Dream ***½ (2023, Hubert Milkowski, Karl Bekele Steinland, Jakub Sierenberg, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Izabella Dudziak, Runar Koteng Frønes) – Classic Movie Review 12,613

Hubert Milkowski stars in the powerful and insightful 2023 film Norwegian Dream as Polish immigrant Robert, who runs from homophobic Poland to work in a fish processing factory in Norway, where he falls in love with the owner’s adopted son. 

‘When the world is against you, choose hope.’

Director Leiv Igor Devold’s 2023 Norway, Poland, Germany co-production Norwegian Dream is a hopeful, positive, encouraging film that has quite a few things on its mind, and says them loud and clear. It is powerful, insightful, intense and involving, as well as ideally cast and acted.

Hubert Milkowski stars in the 2023 film Norwegian Dream as Polish immigrant Robert, who runs from a gay-bashing incident in homophobic Poland, to work in a fish processing factory in Norway, where he falls in love with the owner’s adopted son. 

Hubert Milkowski stars as 19-year-old Polish immigrant Robert, who runs off after a gay-bashing incident in his homophobic Poland, to work on a salmon fish processing factory on the coast of Norway.

There he meets and starts to fall in love with co-worker Ivar (Karl Bekele Steinland), the factory owner’s adopted son, who is a drag artist and an aspiring actor. Bravely, Ivar is openly gay and a member of the newly founded workers’ union, which is trying to tackle the poor working and pay conditions at the factory by demanding a better collective agreement for employment and living rental contracts. Robert is sharing a room in a workers’ dormitory, and fearfully trying to hide his sexual orientation from the other Polish migrant workers, including his randy roommate Marek (Jakub Sierenberg).

Robert’s mother suddenly turns up from Poland, penniless, jobless and desperately unhappy. Robert’s trying to do his best to support her. When Ivar helps the Polish workers to start a strike for better working conditions at the factory, Robert has to choose between money, promotion and a home, or love. Robert and Ivar share a common bond as outsiders, and they start to share a tentative love, but is this strong enough to unite them? The film speaks up loudly for the power of unity: workers’ union and the gay love union.

Robert is a tough little man, strong, sincere and determined, but troubled and facing way too many difficulties. He’s jumped out of the frying pan of Poland into the fire of Norway. It turns out that homophobia is rampant in both countries, though it’s a little more subtle in Norway. He’s up against it every which way, facing a harsh landscape, both literally and figuratively, and is going to make some bad mistakes, but he’s going to keep in there fighting and it’s all going to be OK. Hopefully.

It’s great to have hopeful stories right now, actually now and always. The screenplay has edge and bite, keeping sentimentality and wishful thinking at bay. The older folks are viewed with a great deal of suspicion and eventually disrespect, but the script thinks the kids are going to be alright. Maybe.

The end credit says it is ‘Dedicated to those who fight for the right to love.’

Writers: Justyna Bilik, Gjermund Gisvold and Radoslaw Paczocha.

Runtime: 97 minutes.

Hubert Milkowski was born on June 23, 1999 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is known for Norwegian Dream (2023), Operation Hyacinth (2021) and Lockdown (2022).

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,613

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