A Norwegian drama that's interesting rather than gripping, “A Bothersome Man” deals with main character Andreas’ arrival in and adjustment to a strange new town where life is calm and orderly, the townsfolk are polite and attentive, and human existence is bland and colourless. Filling the screen with beige and grey and leaving numerous clues as to what he thinks the town really stands for, director Jens Lien works hard to sustain interest, including a lengthy and faintly comical sequence in which Andreas tries to do himself in with the help of an underground train. The whole thing resembles nothing more than that pre- Brad Pitt segment of “Fight Club,” with enough lingering shots of interior design to last this spectator a lifetime.
This is one of the best foreign films I have ever seen: I simply could not take my eyes off the screen. The soundtrack of Grieg is great too. A masterclass in how to make an intelligent and entertaining, thoughtful movie.
This film has been reviewed very positively for its perceptive reflection of the banal superficiality of consumerist office-based existence. For this it is a memorable and interesting and very unusual cinematographically. For example the depiction of isolation and emptiness is a scene shot from inside a coach luggage holder of a door banging in the wind, not well described but particularly haunting. It is not however very compelling or exciting and should not be watched late in the evening.