Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud has completed his trilogy with “Dreams (Sex Love),” presented in Berlinale’s main competition. Its previous parts, “Sex” and “Love,” were shown at Berlinale’s Panorama and in Venice. M-Appeal handles sales.
“It’s very, very good that it’s over. It has been a long run. Making these three movies wasn’t that hard – releasing them so quickly was,” laughs Haugerud. Admitting the journey wasn’t actually supposed to end with “Dreams.”
“In Norway, it’s ‘Sex,’ ‘Dreams,’ ‘Love.’ Love is the conclusion,” he says.
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“I thought it was interesting to first visit a couple that has been together for many years, then go back to first love, and eventually talk about what love can be if it’s as much about caring and responsibility as it is romantic. Also, both ‘Sex’ and ‘Dreams’ end with people going towards the city hall in Oslo – ‘Love’ is about the city hall. Still, they are being released in different orders in different countries. In Italy, it’s ‘Dreams,’ then ‘Love’ and then ‘Sex.’”
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In “Dreams,” it’s all about an awkward first infatuation as 17-year-old Johanne (Ella Øverbye) falls, badly, in love with her teacher Johanna (Selome Emnetu).
“It started with Ella. I really wanted to write a part for her,” he says. They already worked together on “Beware of Children,” an award-winner at Göteborg Film Festival.
“I thought: if she can fit into this trilogy, it would have to be about first love and about innocence. Then I remembered my own first love, which wasn’t very hard, because it took over my whole mind. I couldn’t think of anything else. We never became lovers or ended up in a relationship, but I still remember it as something so positive.”
He wanted to remind people how it feels to be overwhelmed by emotion.
“You don’t even recognize yourself anymore. I know it’s impossible to go back, but if one could relive that part, it would be kind of great.”
In his trilogy – produced by Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum for Motlys, falling in love or lust is one thing. Telling others about it is another.
“When you’re experiencing something that’s truly great, you want to tell people. You want to tell the whole world. But when these characters do that, it’s not necessarily a good experience. It distracts them and then it makes the whole thing less great, in a way.”
Johanne decides to write about her crush. Soon, her mother and grandmother are convincing her to publish the book, but it also makes them think about their own choices.
“She wrote it for herself to keep, because it was so strong. Then she lets people read it and they make her talk about it. I don’t have children myself, but as a parent, you’ll react with concern or worry when you hear something like that. When you are reading about it, however, you get to think about it for a while,” he notes.
“In a way, this girl is doing what her grandmother has been doing all her life: she’s living through words. And if you do that, you’re missing something. Once I read about a writer who’d been writing a lot of novels. Then she tried to live instead and that was a total failure.”
Creators get to experience things through their characters, too.
“It’s not real life, but in some way, it is. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my way of telling people: ‘If you meet someone, take a chance,’” he stresses, insisting on granting his protagonists grace and kindness – regardless of how hurt or confused they might be.
“It’s a big thing about this trilogy and it has been the viewers’ repeated reaction, not just in Norway but in other countries as well. Obviously, people need kindness. Kindness is a win-win for everyone.”
