This kind of movie is right up my alley. It's a worthy attempt at an honest portrait of a man who is suffering quietly and finds a path to improving his lot, namely through his love interest, Sjöfn. This is the kind of shaky camera, bleak close-ups film that really tries to immerse the viewer by making it seem almost like a documentary. The casting is good in parts: Fusi is overweight and looks and feels like someone who'd exist in the real world, but I think Sjöfn is perhaps just a little too good-looking to be in the position she's in (working as a garbage processor, single, and desperate enough to consider Fusi as a romantic partner). It's odd how movies always seem to push the envelope on the attractiveness of female characters to the point of implausibility, but I guess that's a minor (and possibly un-PC gripe) I have. The bigger gripe is that, considering the film wants to seem like an honest, gritty, realistic portrait, it manufactures some pretty cliched and implausible situations. For example, Fusi's coworkers, in order to bully and humiliate Fusi, pay a prostitute to have sex with him. This makes him uncomfortable and he refuses aggressively. But does this kind of thing really happen in real life? These are airport workers, presumably with little cash to spare - is it really a funny prank to blow a week's wages just so they can watch a 40-year old man feel awkward? These are grown men remember. Now I'm not denying that bullying exists in the workplace, I just don't think it looks like this. I feel that this scene was written by someone who might have read about bullying or seen it on TV, but had never experienced it in the real world. I wish it had been a bit more subtle. Fusi is already in a miserable situation - we'd have empathised with him in a more realistic bullying situation, like for example, his coworkers sniggering when he fumbles over his words, or spotting him on a date with Sjöfn and subtly hitting on her while putting him down.
Fusi is a good movie though, worth making and worth seeing. (Sorry, I'm not good at writing positive things about films, only criticisms) The above gripes are all that stood in the way of this movie getting a 9/10 (the highest score I give).
Fusi is a good movie though, worth making and worth seeing. (Sorry, I'm not good at writing positive things about films, only criticisms) The above gripes are all that stood in the way of this movie getting a 9/10 (the highest score I give).