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Andrea Berntzen in Utoya – July 22 and Jonas Strand Gravli on July 22
Six years after the deadliest terrorist attack in Norway, two new films offer radically different approaches to describe what happened – and why.
In the afternoon of July 22, 2011, the far right Anders Behring Breivik blew up a car bomb in central Oslo, killing eight people and wounding 209 others.
Later in the day, Breivik, dressed in police uniform, took a ferry to Utoya, an island located on a lake about 35 km northwest of Oslo.
There, he carried out a mass shooting in a youth camp led by the Norwegian Labor Party. By the time the police arrived on the island, more than an hour later, 69 people had died and 33 others were injured.
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Both terrorist attacks have sent shockwaves across Europe and the world, many viewing them as emblematic of the worldwide resurgence of virulent nationalism.
Six years after the attacks, the events of July 22 have inspired two films that attempt to convey the chaos, horror and tragedy experienced by so many people.
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AFP
Anders Breivik makes a Nazi salute at a court appearance last year
Both films are works accomplished with sensitivity and respect. Inevitably, however, they raise questions as to whether events of this nature can and should be recreated on the screen.
Paul Greengrass, British director of Bloody Sunday, United 93 and Captain Phillips, has the experience of transforming real-life events of real life into intense and punchy feature films.
His last book, called July 22, begins that day. The rest of the film is about the trial of Breivik, his lawyers, Geir Lippestad, and Viljar Hanssen, a student who, though shot five times, has recovered well enough to testify.
"The film is not really about attacks," said Greengrass. "It's a story about how Norway fought for its democracy.
"Hundreds of survivors went to court and confronted Breivik with his idealism, personal feelings and dignity, and in doing so, they defeated him."
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According to the director, "it was vital to go to Norway and work with a Norwegian cast and crew". (The film is in English, he says, because he "does not speak Norwegian".)
"I told the actors:" This is your country and you know things that I can not know, "he continues.
"I do not think it's a nihilistic film," he continues. "Without sentimentality and without cheap solutions, we must believe that there are answers to the challenges of our time.
"The idea that democracy is not a given, and that it must be defended and defended, is something we will have to get used to."
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Greengrass rejects the idea that placing Breivik on the screen may inadvertently give him another platform for his unpleasant world views.
"I do not think you can understand what he did without exploring who he was and peeling the onion," he continues.
Another film made on the attacks makes a totally different choice: not to present Breivik as a character, but rather to treat him as an invisible or distant threat.
Erik Poppe, the Norwegian director of Utoya – July 22 – told the BBC that he felt it was "morally questionable" to spend time "photographing" such an individual.
"The last thing I wanted was to give him more fame on social networks," he continues. "I wanted it to be a story about the victims."
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Netflix
Anders Danielsen Lie (left) plays Anders Breivik in Paul Greengrass's film
Poppe's film consists of a long, seemingly uninterrupted take, following a girl from Utoya facing the attack in 90 minutes of real time.
Her heroine is Kaja, a fictional character who is desperate to find her younger sister while the island is invaded by fear and confusion.
We hear gunshots but, like Kaja and her fellow students, we can not infer the origin – with the exception of a scene in which we see a silhouette aim a rifle of a long distance.
Poppe says that he chose to make Kaja a fictional composite in order to "reflect what happened there, closer to what I learned."
"There were ethical reasons for me to tell a fictional story," he continues. "It would be difficult for survivors to watch the movie if they thought these people were friends who had been killed."
Poppe said that he was already well into production when he learned about the existence of the Greengrass film. Yet, he hopes their films can together "present a broader picture of what has happened".
Greengrass also believes that both films – as well as the books, documentaries and television series that the attacks inspired – are part of a "healthy exploration process".
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Poppe with actress Andrea Berntzen at the Berlin Film Festival, where Utoya – July 22 was created
"You can only do the film you can do and you put only one brick in a wall, and a lot of other people will put in theirs," he says.
"When events like 9/11 and 22 July are huge challenges to democratic standards, culture has to deal with them – it's the way we give meaning to our world."
Breivik admitted to perpetrating the attacks but denied any criminal responsibility. He was found guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison.
An independent report on the attacks concluded that the attack could have been avoided and blamed the police for not reacting more quickly.
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Breivik has been kept in solitary confinement for a short time after his arrest. Last year, he changed his name and now calls himself Fjotolf Hansen. He recently applied for a degree in Political Science.
It is possible, if this is improbable, that he will one day see the films on his actions. Is it something that their directors would support?
Greengrass's answer is concise. "I have no feelings about Breivik," he says. "He is rightfully imprisoned and I have no interest in him – zero."
Poppe also says that he "does not care about" Breivik but is at least ready to entertain the notion.
"Some people say that maybe he should think of our film as an awakening," he told the BBC. "Others say that he will never wake up and that he will never understand what he's done."
"The day he regrets and starts questioning his own act, it may be time for him to watch the movie."
July 22 is aired in select theaters and on Netflix on October 10. Utoya – July 22 is presented at the London Film Festival and opens in the UK on October 26th.
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